Dimension Hoppers 7: Rocket Heroes
by Prince Izzy X
Summary: Using the power of their air skates, their special skills, and teamwork, Otto the Hedgehog, Twister the Echidna, and Sam the two-tailed Fox—as well as three other teams—must save all skate parks—and the world—from the evil Dr. Coconutman.
1. Intro: Setting the Stage

Disclaimer: Nothing that is copyrighted belongs to me. Only myself & my fan character(s). This goes for the whole fic. And if by some weird twist of fate, this fic breaks any of this site's childish and unfair rules, please do the courteous thing and tell me in a review what I did wrong. If it doesn't ruin the artistic quality of the fic, I'll fix it ASAP. I'm usually on all day. At least give me a chance to fix the problem before reporting me.

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Dimension Hoppers 7

Intro

Setting the Stage

The camera turned on high above the soundstage at the end of town. It was currently night. Spotlights were present at the sides of the stage. A huge crowd was also present. The camera moved to the front of the stage, where a curtain was drawn.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Rocket Power Dimension," The announcer started. "Please give a round of applause for your author, dimension hopper, Prince Izzy!" The crowd roared as I stepped out from the left side of the stage. A light was shining on me as I made my way to center stage, waving at the crowd all the while.

I was six feet tall. I had tanned skin and a small amount of black hair. I was also wearing a jester's outfit. The shirt was purple on the left side and black on the right. My pants were black on the left leg and purple on the right. Card suits were also displayed. A dirty pair of running shoes was on my feet. I was also wearing a cape that was black on the outside and red on the inside. My gold crown shimmered in the lights as I reached center stage.

"And his partner, fellow dimension hopper and a major sour puss, Izzy!" The announcer continued. The crowd cheered as my partner stepped out from the right side of the stage. Like me, a light was shining on him as he walked to center stage while waving at the crowd.

He was about a foot shorter than me. Like me, he had tanned skin and black hair. The difference though was that his hair was almost as big as an afro (think Tai from Digimon). He was wearing a black shirt that had a picture of Bowser (from the Mario games) on it. He was also wearing baggy shorts and sneakers. When he got to me, the spotlights turned off and the house lights turned on.

"Just wait until I get my hands on the announcer…" Izzy growled, crossing his arms. I rolled my eyes at him and turned to the crowd.

"Welcome to the show folks! We will provide your entertainment for the evening (or day, depending on when you're reading this). As dimension hoppers, it's our duty to amaze and amuse you while _we_ research whatever dimension we decide to work on! Last time we were—well—here, in the dimension for the greatest cartoon ever!!!"

The crowd roared as Izzy sighed.

"Yeah…" He held his head. "It was torture losing against SAM of all people! Ugh!"

"Well, he ain't the greatest action hero in this dimension for nothing." I said with a shrug. I turned back to the crowd. "Anyway, I had a pretty good time working in this dimension. The last couple of months were a blast!"

"I wouldn't say that." My partner commented. "One slash fic after another…" He shuddered, causing me to again roll my eyes.

"Whatever. But now, I guess we gotta say see ya. We all must move on. But I will remember all the fond memories. Pairing up Otto and Lars."

"Blech!" Izzy yelled with distaste. I glared at him.

"Creating all those theories."

"Half of them made no sense." Izzy remarked. I sulked.

"Extending the ideal of Sam/Twister."

"Again, blech!"

"Can I finish?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"It depends."

"Ugh…" I moaned. I shook my head. "And finally, making reference after reference."

Izzy glared coldly at me. I ignored it as I continued.

"But nonetheless, it was great working with some of my favorite characters of all time. Now we must part."

"Yeah, yeah! Get to business already!" My partner yelled, rushing me along.

"Alright, alright!" I replied before gesturing to the curtain. "Presenting our ticket to adventure!"

The curtain rose, revealing…

"**THE WHEEL OF PLOTLINES!!!**" The crowd cheered.

The panels present on the wheel this time were a red silhouette of Mario's face, a yellow silhouette of Pikachu's face, a purple silhouette of Yugi's face, Sonic Team's symbol (a blue silhouette of Sonic's face :-P), and a circle with a P on it. A ? block was floating next to it.

"As always, whatever panel the wheel lands on will decide which dimension we'll go to next." I turned to Izzy. "Alright, you know what to do."

"Of course I do." Izzy scoffed. "It may have been a long time since I did this, but I'm a pro at this." He walked over to the wheel. Before he got there, he tripped over a loose floorboard and crashed into it, causing the crowd to break out in raucous laughter. Izzy groaned as he pushed himself off the wheel.

"I meant to do that…" He said, stumbling around. I only crossed my arms at him.

"Uh-huh… Quit fooling around and get under the block." I told him. Izzy grumbled and walked under the ? block.

"Ok! Start it up!" He said. I snapped my fingers.

The crowd screamed and cheered as the wheel began spinning. The panels became a blur as Izzy waited for the right moment. After close to three minutes, he punched the block. The wheel started to slow down. The panels slowly became visible. Soon, the wheel was spinning at a snail's pace. It looked like it was about to stop on the Pikachu panel, but instead, it landed on the panel with a P on it.

"Hmph. So much for going back to my home dimension." Izzy mumbled, crossing his arms. He turned to me. "So what does that symbol mean?"

"Hmmm… I've never seen that one before." I answered. "Better take a look at the instructions" I reached into my pocket and pulled out a book entitled Instruction book for the Wheel of Plotlines, Second Edition. I then thumbed through it.

"Let's see… Aha! Here we go! It says here that the circle with a P in it means we have to do a parody."

"A parody, huh?" Izzy asked. "Of what and with who?"

"According to the book, we have to use the inhabitants of the last dimension we worked with." I replied. Izzy blinked.

"Then that means…" He slapped his forehead. "Ugh! We're stuck here, _again_!?"

"I'm afraid so." I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, as for _what_ we're doing a parody of, the wheel will spin again and you gotta hit the block. Depending on what panel it lands on, we'll do a parody of something involving the chosen dimension."

"Like if it lands on Yugi's face, the RP cast will do some kind of parody involving Yu-Gi-Oh?"

"You got it." I said with a nod. I then turned to the Wheel of Plotlines. "Alright, Parody Panel! Do your job!"

The wheel started spinning again. A few minutes passed before Izzy hit the block. The crowd looked on in anticipation as the wheel started slowing down. After a few seconds, it finally stopped on the Sonic Team symbol. That symbol blinked for about a minute before the bottom of the ? block opened. My partner looked up curiously.

"Wha?"

::BONK!::

A lump formed on Izzy's head after getting it by a Gamecube. His eyes became two swirls as he swayed dizzily.

"Floy haven!"

::CRASH!::

A second lump formed after he got hit by a Playstation 2.

"I'm only three and a half years old…" He said with a babyish voice. He was still swaying under the block.

::WHAM!::

The ? block finally closed after unloading an X-box onto my partner's head. Now his eyes became two Xs.

"No more for me, thanks. I'm driving!" He shouted dizzily. He fainted shortly after. I blinked and walked over to him. I got into a thinking pose as I looked carefully at the three systems.

"Hmmmm… A Gamecube, Playstation 2, and X-box… The Sonic Team symbol…" I snapped my fingers. "Of course! It's obvious what this means!"

Izzy, meanwhile, sat up, holding his head.

"Ohhhh… What happened?" He groaned.

"You took a little spill, but that doesn't matter!" I answered. "I figured out what we're doing a parody of!" He stood up.

"So what are we doing?"

"Think about it. The wheel landed on the Sonic Team symbol and all three consoles landed on your head. So you know what that means."

"I'm gonna have one hell of a concussion?" He asked.

"Yeah, but besides that." I replied. "What Sonic game came out on all three systems?"

"The only thing I can think of, aside from the extreme pain I'm in, is…" His eyes widened. "You mean we're doing a parody of—?!"

"That's right!" I interrupted with a grin. "We're doing a parody of Sonic Heroes with the Rocket Power cast!" The crowd roared at that.

"Aha!" Izzy shouted, pointing an accusing finger at me. "I knew it!"

"Uhhh… Knew what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I knew you were gonna do this eventually! It's so obvious!" He answered. "All those references you made! Identifying the stars with the Sonic crew, the theory on eye colors you made in Rocketmon, the intro to Race Across Rainbows; it was all there! You've been hinting at it since we got here!" I raised my eyebrow higher as he punched the air and started break dancing.

"Right… And why exactly are you dancing around?" Izzy paused in the middle of a handstand.

"Because now that you're doing this idea, you'll get it out of your system at long last and you won't make anymore Sonic references while we're in this dimension!"

"What exactly makes you so sure about that, anyway?" I asked. "We've combined this dimension with Pokémon's and yet I still do Team Rocket jokes whenever possible." His eyes widened to that.

"Err…"

"Never mind." I sighed, turning to the crowd. "Anyway, for those who don't know (and why are you reading this fic in the first place?), Sonic Heroes is the latest 3D Sonic game to come out. In it, you play as not one, not two, but _three_ characters at once! You can play as any one of four teams and go through fourteen stages, battling tons of dangerous robots and going through ingenious traps.

"Each team has a speed character to blaze through the stages; a power character to take on the enemies, bust walls, and open doors; and a flying character to carry his or her teammates to bigger heights and to fight airborne foes."

"So we're transforming the RP cast into furries to do this?" Izzy asked.

"Yep."

"And since we're playing the whole parody deal, you're having them face the robots featured in Beach Bandits?"

"Nope." I replied, causing him to raise an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"I'm not gonna have them face those wimpy robots!" I shouted, putting my hands on my hips. "Our twelve guys and girls are going up against robots created by the greatest evil genius in the Sonic Dimension, Dr. Ivo Robotnik!"

"WHO!?!" The crowd asked. Izzy and I faced them with a cold glare.

"Eggman." We both said icily.

"Oooooooohhhhhhh…" I shook my head at them.

"Anyway, since our heroes still wouldn't have super speed when they're transformed and so that I could play on the whole extreme sports theme of the show, most of them will be outfitted with the same air skates the master of darkness, evil, and all that is ultimate in the Sonic Dimension wears."

"Figures you'd put them in somewhere." Izzy said, crossing his arms.

"Whatever."

"Hey, why aren't you going to give all of them air skates?"

"Two of the characters are too small to use the skates. They'd have to wear SOAP shoes instead." I answered. "And one of them has rockets on his back, so he wouldn't need them."

"And now, the big question on everybody's mind is: Who's playing as who!?"

"YEAH!!!" The crowd roared.

"Right. I almost forgot." I started, turning back to the audience. "Like I said, we got twelve characters to play as our heroes. First up is Team Sonic. Their mission is to stop Dr. Robotnik from taking over the world. Pretty cliché by now, but it works. Their stages have a medium difficulty with just the right amount of enemies and traps to get through. This team will be spending most of the time speeding through the levels."

"So spill. Who's on this team?" Izzy asked.

"I'm getting to that." I replied. "Anyway, our first character is no stranger to all of us. You've known him since the early nineties. He can run at the speed of sound and then some. The original speed demon, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The crowd cheered.

"Now, since Sonic's the leader, we gotta use someone who has a leader-type role on RP." I continued. "So the speed character for this team is none other than Otto Rocket!"

The audience roared to that.

"Pfft! Figures _he'd_ get Sonic's role." Izzy scoffed. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Next, we have the power character, Knuckles the Echidna, guardian of the Master Emerald. He's so diligent in his duty that he'll punch out anyone who so much as gets near this all-powerful jewel. He has near super strength, which he uses to pull his teammates to victory! He has the ability to glide through the air. He can also dig underground and climb walls, due to the spikes on his fists. Of course, like all great heroes, he has but one flaw: He's gullible.

"Of course, in order to fill his role, we need someone who's equally protective of their prized possession and is gullible as well. So the power character for the team is Twister Rodriguez!"

The crowd cheered. Izzy put a hand to his chin.

"Hmmmm… So who's Tails?"

"Don't rush me! I was getting to that!" I yelled, turning to the crowd. "Anyway, lastly, we have the flying character for Team Sonic, Miles 'Tails' Prowler. He may be eight years old, but this fox is extremely smart. He's gifted in technology. He has made all sorts of inventions, including his biplane, the Tornado. He's so smart; it's said that he rivals Dr. Robotnik in intelligence. He has the ability to fly by winding up and rotating his namesake, his two tails, like a helicopter's blades. He can also use his twin appendages to speed along the ground and keep up with Sonic.

"Now then, as for who's playing the part, we require someone who's just as smart, or at least is smart compared to his friends. Also, he must have some sort of nickname. So the flying character for the first team is the greatest action hero in this dimension, Sam 'the Squid' Dullard!"

The crowd applauded. Meanwhile, Izzy growled at the mention of his hated rival.

"Of course, it would be kinda weird to have the team named Team Sonic if it consists of Otto, Twister, and Sam." I said, getting into a thinking pose. "Hmmm…" I snapped my fingers. "I got it! The name for this team is Team Rocket!"

"WHAT!?!" Izzy roared, grabbing his mallet. I held my hands in defense.

"Chill Izzy." I said coolly. "For once, it's got nothing to do with that little coincidence, I swear."

"You sure?" Izzy asked, tightening his grip on his weapon. I kept my cool.

"Of course." I answered, waving a dismissive hand. "In fact, to make sure it's out of my system…" I faced offstage. "Otto, Twister, Sam! On stage now!"

A few seconds passed before Otto, Twister, and Sam walked on stage. The crowd cheered, clapped, and even whistled at them. They waved at the audience. Izzy glared daggers at the blond as he fought against the strong urge to bash his skull in. They stood across from us.

"Hey guys!" Otto greeted. "What's up?"

"Just stand right there for a moment." I answered.

"Uhhh… Ok." Twister said unsurely. And he had a good reason to be unsure!

I snapped my fingers, causing a bob-Omb to materialize in my left hand. I lit it and made the wind up.

"Somehow, I don't like where this is going…" Sam said, quivering slightly.

I then tossed the bomb. It whizzed through the air towards the trio, who scrambled to get away. It was no use though.

::BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!::

The crowd roared as the group was sent flying.

"It looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!!!" Otto, Twister, and Sam screamed as they became a star in the night sky. Izzy glared at me.

"What?" I asked, causing him to sigh.

"Never mind. As much as I love to see Sam harmed brutally, was that the last Team Rocket joke for the fic?"

"I'll try to make that the only one, but I'm not making any promises." I replied. Izzy slapped his forehead.

"Ugh… Moving on, what's our second team?"

"Ah yes. Our second team is a personal favorite of mine, Team Dark." I started. "Each of the three members of this team has their own agenda. Their stages are a little more difficult than Team Sonic's. This is due to the addition of more robots. As well as the higher amount, the robots _this_ trio will have to fight are stronger. This team spends most of the levels fighting."

"And now for our characters!" Izzy yelled, rushing things along. I gave him a strained look before turning to the audience.

"The speed character for this team is the great Shadow the Hedgehog! Known by all as the Ultimate Life Form. He has been frozen for fifty years, following an accident onboard the space colony ARK. Using one of the seven Chaos Emeralds, he can distort space and time with his signature technique, Chaos Control." I snapped my fingers, making a glass of cherry soda appear. I quickly chugged it down and caught my breath.

"Whew… Using this technique, he can freeze time or teleport wherever he wants." I continued. "He moves around by skating with his air skates. He can go as fast as Sonic. He's one hell of a badass. At the beginning of the game, he's found inside a room in one of the good doctor's bases. His reason for going after Robotnik is to find out why he was locked in there in the first place.

"As for who's playing as Shadow—"

"HOLD IT!!!" A mysterious voice yelled.

"Wha?" Izzy and I said, looking around.

Right in front of us, a cloud of red smoke appeared and engulfed us. As we coughed and sputtered for air, the smoke dissipated, revealing Eddie, who was wearing his mask.

"Eddie?" Izzy said, coughing some more. "What are you doing here?"

"As the prince of the Netherworld, I command that I play as the king of darkness!" The caped brunet commanded in his creepy voice. Izzy and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Huh?" Eddie pulled back his mask.

"I want to play as Shadow." He said in his normal voice.

"Ha! Yeah right!" I scoffed, crossing my arms. "What makes you think _you_ can play as the great Shadow?" He pulled his mask over his face.

"I've have been studying the king of darkness for years." He answered in his otherworldly voice. "I am the most well-versed on him. Like the dark hedgehog, I am gothic and very reflective. I can move among the shadows and am very stealthy. I can be a great villain! So what do you say, oh great patriarch from another world?"

"'Patriarch?'" Izzy asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"It's another word for author." I replied.

"Ooohhhh…" He nodded in understanding. I turned back to Eddie.

"I'd love to cast you as Shadow, Eddie, really I would, but I already had someone else in mind." I noticed the disappointment in his eyes. "But don't despair! I'm sure I can find a role in this for you."

"But I—" I snapped my fingers, causing a trapdoor to open underneath the "prince."

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" He screamed as he plummeted. I dusted off my hands as the door closed.

"Weird…" Izzy said, raising an eyebrow. He turned to me. "So, back to casting."

"Right. Anyway, since Shadow is the Ultimate Life Form of the Sonic Dimension, it's only proper that the Ultimate Life Form of _this_ dimension plays his role."

"Meaning…?" I turned to the crowd.

"Playing as Shadow the Hedgehog is the master of darkness, evil, and all that is ultimate in the RP Dimension, Lars Rodriguez!" The girls in the audience swooned after hearing that. The guys, on the other hand, glared at their girlfriends. Izzy and I gave all of them a weirded out look.

"Right…" We both said.

"Anyway, next up is our power character, E-123 Omega." I started. "He's the last of Dr. Robotnik's E-series robots. For some reason or another, he was decommissioned and locked up in the same room Shadow is found in. His motive is revenge against any and all of Dr. Robotnik's creations, as well as the doctor himself for getting tossed out like a piece of trash.

"He has an impressive array of weapons. Machine guns, flamethrowers, and missile launchers; all concealed in his arms. Like the other power characters, he can also turn his partners into fireballs and use them to attack groups of enemies.

"It was kinda difficult to figure out whom to give his role. I needed someone who had a smart-sounding name and looked strong. So the power character for this team is one of Lars' goons, Pi Piston."

The crowd gave a confused applause.

"I know, I know." I acknowledged their worries with a shrug. "Who else was I gonna pick?"

"Wait, how is Pi's name smart-sounding?" Izzy asked.

"Pi is a math term, remember?" I answered. "Besides, all of Ivo's E-series robots have a letter of the Greek alphabet as their name. And Pi just happens to be the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet." I turned to the crowd.

"Anyway, finally, our flying character is—" I sighed wistfully. "—Rouge the Bat. She's a professional treasure hunter that's always searching for the rarest of jewels. She's also a government spy. Whenever a task is put in front of her, she goes through it to the end and never leaves empty handed. Her mission in this is to get a load of treasure.

"On a lighter note, she's without a doubt the hottest character in the game! Her beauty is unsurpassed. She's got a figure to die for. And her emerald eyes are so hypnotic…" I drooled as images of the beautiful mammal entered my mind. Izzy raised an eyebrow at me.

"Uhhh… Boss, you're going ga-ga over a fictional character that's a _bat_ no less!" He yelled. I blinked and wiped my mouth.

"So? Who says I can't swoon over a bat?" My partner slapped his forehead at that.

"Just say who's playing her role."

"Oh right." I turned to the audience. "The role of the alluring Rouge the Bat will be played by the equally beautiful Reggie Rocket!" The guys in the crowd gave wolf whistles and cat calls while the girls glared at their boyfriends in utter disgust.

"Hmmmm…" Izzy hummed, getting into a thinking pose.

"What's up?"

"Twister is playing as Knuckles, Lars is playing as Shadow, and Reggie's playing as Rouge." My partner answered.

"Yeah… So?"

"Something about those roles seems a bit odd…" He walked offstage to his dressing room.

"Yah…" I raised an eyebrow before turning to the crowd. "Anyway, Reggie is supposed to play as the leader of the team, but do you honestly think that Lars would let himself be bossed around by _her_ of all people?" The guys roared with laughter at that while the girls reached into their purses for something hard.

"Didn't think so. As for the team's name…" I shrugged. "Well, I owed it to him in Rocketmon, so the name of the team is Team Lars!"

The crowd cheered.

Meanwhile, in Izzy's dressing room…

The room was a modest size. It had a mirror by the left wall. On the back wall was a computer. Plush furniture covered the remainder of the room. Exotic plants were at every corner. The floor was covered with a velvet rug. Izzy was seen pacing around in thought.

"I don't get it." He said to himself. "What is it about those three roles that have me so messed up!? I gotta hurry up and get back to the show." He looked at the ceiling.

"Boy, this must be the longest intro we've ever done. I might as well see if there's a quick fic I could look at before I go back." He walked over to the computer and got on this site. He then went into the Sonic section.

"Hmmmmm…" He clicked around a bit. "I gotta make sure I read that one later." He clicked a bit more before he realized something. "Hmmmm… There sure are a lot of Rouge/Knuckles and Rouge/Shadow fics to read tonight… Wait a minute…" He crossed his arms and looked down.

"Reggie's playing as Rouge, Twister's gonna be Knuckles, and Lars is gonna play as Shadow." He leaned back into his chair as he pondered. "Reggie… Rouge… Twister… Knuckles… Lars… Shadow…" His eyes widened in horror.

"Oh crap!!!" He got up and bolted out of the room with a murderous scowl on his face. "That idiot! Doesn't he know what kind of implications this'll cause!?!"

Back onstage…

The audience laughed at a joke I made to stall while waiting for Izzy. It was a pretty funny one I heard a million times before. Despite that, I was chuckling a bit myself.

"So then I said—"

"BOSS!!!" Izzy's voice rang out urgently. I sighed and tilted my head to the left.

"What now?" I turned towards the left side of the stage, where my partner was running towards me. "What is it?" He ran up to me and fought to catch his breath.

"Reggie… Twister… Lars…" He panted. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Breathe."

A minute or so passed before he caught his breath.

"Now what's the deal with you?" I asked. He looked up and gave me a frightful stare.

"Boss, Reggie's playing as Rouge, Twister's playing as Knuckles, and Lars is playing as Shadow!!!"

"Yes, I'm aware of that." I rolled my eyes. "Now chill. We still gotta tell who's playing as the other characters." His jaw dropped.

"But, but—" He stuttered.

"Izzy, drop it." I said, growing impatient.

"But I—" He was stopped as I made a giant mallet appear.

"Are ya gonna chill now?" I asked, holding it dangerously above my head. Izzy gulped.

"I'll chill." He nodded. I tossed the hammer behind me, causing a great crash.

"That's better." I said, turning towards the crowd again.

'_Fine. Let him find out the hard way._' He thought with an evil smirk.

"Anyway, on to the third team, Team Rose." I started. "This team is the easiest out of all four to play as. Their stages are shorter and there are fewer robots to worry about, which will be just fine with me when I write them out. This team's agenda is to find their friends.

"The speed character for this team is Amy Rose. She is Sonic's self-appointed girlfriend. Basically, she'll go to the ends of the earth and back to be with the blue hedgehog of her dreams. She's a little on the fanatic side if you know what I mean. If you get in her way, prepare to face the wrath of her Piko Piko Hammer! She's the leader of this team.

"As for who's playing the part, I need someone who has at least been hinted at having a thing for Otto. So of course, the role of Amy goes to Clio!"

The crowd cheered at my decision.

"I guess now would be a good time to issue an OOC warning." I said, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. "I think I might wind up making Clio hyper and absolutely crazy for Otto." I shrugged.

"Oh well. She's only been in two episodes. Three if you count that cameo she made in Game Day. I don't think that tiny amount of episodes is enough to establish an understanding of her personality or anybody else's for that matter."

"Heh. That belief didn't stop you from giving her and Little Scottie a cameo in Rocketmon or using Keoni in your past fics." Izzy said with a small grin. Again, I shrugged.

"What can I say? I wanna be careful."

"Whatever. Moving on?"

"Oh right. The power character for Team Rose is Big the Cat. A cuddly little—"

"Ahem!" Izzy interrupted. I rolled my eyes.

"Ok… A _big _kitten." I turned back to the crowd. "He lives in the jungles of the Mystic Ruins with his pet frog, Froggy. He loves to fish, so he always has his fishing rod with him. He may not have a whole lot going on upstairs, but his heart's in the right place. His mission in this is to find Froggy, who has once again gotten lost (He got lost before in Sonic Adventure 1/DX for those who don't know).

"As for who's playing the part, I need someone who has done at least one of these things: Lived in a jungle, fished, and owned a frog or at least some kind of pet. My choice has only done one of these things: Lived in a jungle. The power character for this team is Izzy's 'delectable pineapple—'" I smirked as he growled. "—Keoni Makani!"

"Do you _always_ have to bring that up whenever we talk about Keoni!?" Izzy roared, shaking his fists. "I've been straight ever since we finished The Runaway!" He blinked. "Hey wait! Why is _he_ playing as Big?!"

"What's wrong with him?"

"Well, for one thing, Big is, well, BIG!!! _Tito_ is a more worthy character to play the role! He's lived in the jungles of Hawaii _and_ fished!"

"I can't use Tito!" I defended. "What reason would he have to hang out with Clio and the flying character?"

"And what reason would _Keoni_ have?" Izzy argued, crossing his arms.

"I'll think of something!" I answered with a glare. "Besides, he's been in the same episode as Clio!" Izzy glared back.

"So has Tito! Twice!"

"Grrr… I'm not making an adult travel with Clio and the flying character and that's that!"

"Hmph!" My partner grunted, turning away. He looked over his shoulder at me. "So, who _is_ the flying character, anyway?" I scowled at him before turning to the audience, who was stunned at our bickering.

"The flying character for Team Rose is Cream the Rabbit. At six, she is one of the youngest characters in the game. She is cute, tiny, naïve, innocent; basically sweetness personified. Like the Disney character Dumbo, she has the ability to fly by flapping her ears like wings. She's always seen with her pet chao, Cheese, who sorta serves as her protector and best friend. Cheese has a twin brother named Chocola, who gets lost. Cream's mission is to reunite the two twins."

"Hey! That's kinda like in that game, Yoshi's Island, right?" Izzy asked. I held a hand to my chin.

"Hey yeah… It _is_ like Yoshi's Island, except Creamy Dreamy doesn't have to worry about protecting Cheese." I turned to the crowd. "Anyway, in order to figure out who could play the part of this darling creature who gives you cavities just by looking at her, I had to use a girl (duh!), preferably one with pigtails, who's really young and is sweetness personified. Having two pets couldn't hurt, but it's not a requirement. I can just have Cheese, Chocola, and Froggy guest star."

"Hmmm… What girl on RP fits those criteria?"

"That's easy." I said without turning to him. "The part of Cream the Rabbit will be played by Mackenzie Benders!"

"HUH!?!" The crowd yelled with wide eyes.

"What they said." Izzy added. "_Mackenzie?_ Sweetness personified?! Are you nuts!? She's worse than Angelica! She's the queen of darkness in this dimension!"

"She's the only one small enough to fit the role." I said with a shrug. He slapped his head in response.

"Fine. Just get to the team name."

"Right. Well, the name of the original team uses the leader's last name, so the name for this team is Team Rodriguez!"

"Heh. Could be worse. Now for the last team."

"Ah yes. The final team is Team Chaotix. This trio is a crack team of detectives who'll take on any case. As long as it pays good money, of course. They're kinda the oddball group of the game. Every stage is a different mission for them to undertake. Depending on how good you are, each stage can be completed in less than ten minutes or over an hour. They get roped into this adventure when they receive a job from a mysterious client through a walkie talkie they get in the mail."

"Yeah, yeah. Get to the characters already!" Izzy rushed. "This intro is way too long already!"

"Keep your shirt on!" I shouted before turning to the audience. "Anyway, first up is the speed character, Espio the Chameleon. He's a ninja who can use his camouflage ability to get by enemies unnoticed. He can toss a shuriken (ninja star) while invisible. Being a ninja, he can move among the shadows with ease. He's so stealthy that he can be right behind you and you'd never know until it's too late. He's also extremely reflective and serious." I held a hand to my chin.

"Reflective, serious, moves among the shadows…" I snapped my fingers. "I got it! The speed character for this team is Eddie 'Prince of the Netherworld' Valentine!" I grinned proudly. "See? I told ya I'd give him a role!"

"Whatever." Izzy said, rolling his eyes.

"There's just no pleasing you, is there?" I sighed. "Anyway next up is the power character, Vector the Crocodile. This reptilian powerhouse is the leader of the trio. He can crush enemies by chomping on them with his powerful jaws. He'll do just about any kind of work, but won't do anything dirty, like finding dirt on a political figure. He'll sometimes undertake unpaid work, like helping little kids get their kitten down a tree. You'll always find him with a pair of headphones on his nonexistent ears."

"And the RP character that'll take on the role is…?"

"Trent." I answered simply. The crowd and Izzy gave me a freaked out look.

"Uhhh… Any particular reason?" My partner asked.

"Nope."

"Riiiiiiiight… So all that's left is the flying character."

"The final character for this team is Charmy Bee. Basically, he's a hyper little bee that's lighthearted for the most part, if not a little insane. Along with Creamy Dreamy, he's one of the youngest characters at age six. He's mainly happy and joyful, but if you get him mad, he'll make sure you get the point right where it hurts!

"Obviously, we need a little kid to fill in the roll of this little guy. It also helps if he's naïve and kind hearted." I got into a thinking pose. "Hmmmm… Who could I use?"

"How about Little Scottie?" Izzy suggested. "He's young enough for the role. Plus, he's never been used in a fanfic other than Rocketmon." I gave him a curious look.

"How on earth would you know that? For all we know, Little Scottie could've been used in some—Blech!—Rodriguez Brother/Reggie fic." I scolded. "Don't jump to conclusions."

"Fine. Sorry." He rolled his eyes. "So you gonna use him or what?"

"Heh. Why not?" I shrugged. "Got nobody else unless I age you down."

"You better not." Izzy warned, crossing his arms. "If I had to be in this fic, I'd wanna be Shadow or Dr. Robotnik. Speaking of whom, who's playing as Ivo?"

"Hang on. I still gotta name the team. Let's see…" I tried to think of a name, but nothing came. I held my head and shook it. "Ugh! I have no clue what to name this team! Maybe I should name them Team Potpourri because none of them were ever seen together. No. That name wouldn't work."

"How about Team Rare? Trent was seen in two episodes while Scottie had only one."

"But Eddie's been in at least ten." I rationalized. We were both silent as we looked down while crossing our arms.

"I got it!" Izzy yelled a few minutes later.

"Ya do!?" I asked excitedly.

"Yeah. They're detectives, right?"

"Yeah…" I nodded.

"So how about we name them Team Sherlock?" I stuck my tongue out at that.

"Blech! That's completely idiotic!"

Izzy glared hotly at me.

"But I got nothing, so we'll use that." I turned to the crowd. "The name of our final team is Team Sherlock!" They cheered at that.

"Hey, I just noticed a similarity between each team." Izzy said.

"Oh? What?" I asked.

"Each of them has a Rodriguez in it." I held my chin in thought.

"Team Rocket has Twister, Team Lars has Lars, Team Rodriguez has Clio, and Team Sherlock has Little Scottie." I nodded. "Yep. You're right."

"Yeah…" He rolled his eyes. "So who's playing as Robotnik?"

"Hmmmm… We need someone who displays at least two of these qualities: Is fat, is really smart, hates kids, and has technical know-how." I thought for a moment before snapping my fingers. "And it just so happens that the villain for this fic displays all four of them."

"So who is it?" Izzy asked. I winked and shook a condoling finger at him.

"Sorry, you'll just have to keep guessing." I turned to the crowd. "Anyway, we'll be right back with Chapter One after this short break!"

The crowd roared and applauded as the camera faded to black.


	2. A new pair of Skates

Pre-chapter Conversation

"Here we are at the first chapter at long last!" I shouted happily. Izzy crossed his arms.

"Took ya long enough!" He sneered. "That intro was way too long!"

"Well, I had to tell who was playing as whom, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you always have to make a big production out of everything!"

"Heh. What can I say? I'm proud of my art." I said with a shrug. I turned to the camera. "Anyway, it shouldn't have to be said, but this is going to be an AU fic. Most of the characters have already been transformed and given their roles. This story will be about twelve kids who find themselves in the ultimate struggle to save the one thing they cherish above all else: skate parks. There will be blood, sweat, tears, and one very mean robot, but that won't be til later.

"For the first chapter, we're going to introduce four of our heroes as they get ready to go through a normal day in their lives. Of course, they'll soon find themselves in possession of the most important weapon they'll need for their inevitable journey. How exactly will they gain this all important item? You'll just have to read to find out. Enjoy!" Izzy also faced the camera.

"Oh, by the way, aside from Clio, the boss's OOC warning applies to some other characters. Try to guess which ones!" He waved at the camera. "See ya later!"

-----------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter One

A new pair of Skates

"Cock-a-doodle dooooooooo!!!!!!!"

The sun has risen on another beautiful day in peaceful Ocean Shores, California, extreme sport capitol of the world! You got an ocean for surfing, two skate parks for skating, one of said skate parks for snowboarding, and plenty of other places for action. It's a calm seaside town where a modest amount of people live and work.

Let's skip ahead a couple of hours and go to the cul-de-sac on the hill. Our story begins in the biggest house in the area; the one that has a ship's bow for a porch. A newspaper was thrown at the door. It landed on the welcome mat. You could clearly see the headline, which read, "DR. COCONUTMAN STRIKES AGAIN!!!" The door opened and a pair of blue sandals was seen. A gloved hand picked up the newspaper.

"Hmmmm… This Coconutman guy has been in the news a lot lately." A male voice mumbled. The sandals moved away and the door was closed.

At the second floor of the house, you could hear an alarm clock ringing. Inside the same room as the clock, a figure was shifting around in the nearby bed, which was shaped like a car.

"Mmmmmm… Thank you, thank you… It's an honor to win this surf trophy…" A young male mumbled. His voice was muffled by the sheets. He moved around a bit more before his eyes shot open.

"Aw man… Just a dream…" He yawned.

A gloved hand reached out from under the blankets and pressed a button on the clock, ending the annoying noise. He then grabbed a pair of green tinted sunglasses before returning his hand to the blankets. He stretched his limbs before getting up. Two feet adorned in white socks reached the floor and walked out of the room. The figure walked into the bathroom.

The first thing he did after using the toilet was open the medicine cabinet. He grabbed a tube of toothpaste and closed the cabinet. When he did so, the reflection of a red hedgehog was staring back at him. His head quills were arranged like dreadlocks. They were held up by a green headband. He was wearing the same sunglasses he grabbed earlier. The hedgehog applied the toothpaste to his toothbrush and brushed his teeth.

When he was done, he put the toothbrush and toothpaste away and moved to the shower. You could easily see the circle on his chest. Unlike the rest of his body, that area had reddish tanned skin. He stepped in the tub and closed the curtain behind him. He turned on the water and bathed himself. When he finished, he grabbed a towel and dried himself off. He walked into his room and grabbed a pair of white sneakers. After he put them on, he proceeded to go downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Morning, Otto." A female voice said to him. The hedgehog looked up and saw a bat sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal.

She was purple. She was taller than him. She was wearing a red-violet shirt with a rocket ship pictured on it and white gloves. She was also wearing a pair of camouflage pants and red sneakers. Lastly, she was wearing a pair of sunglasses in her hair.

"Mornin' Reggie…" Otto yawned again as he grabbed a bowl from the cupboard. He sat at the table and poured some cereal into the bowl. "So where're Noelani and Raymundo?"

"They already left to go to the Shack." Reggie replied as Otto poured milk into the bowl. "So what are we doing today?" She dug her spoon into the cereal.

"I guess we'll do some blading at Mad Town." Otto replied with a shrug. He started eating. After taking his first spoonful, he grabbed a remote and turned on the nearby TV. An anchorman appeared on screen.

"_In other news, the mad scientist Dr. Coconutman attacked a city near Los Angeles._" Otto and Reggie's heads shot up and turned to the screen. The image was staticy, but the two kids were able to see the destruction clearly.

Thousands of robots were shown shooting everything in their path with machine guns. Millions of people were seen fleeing for their lives. Huge smokestacks fell to the robots' assault. And floating among the chaos was a hovercraft. It was gray, round, and had a single headlight in the front. A mirror much like those on a car was seen on each side of it. Its pilot was shrouded in shadow.

"_The citizens were able to evacuate successfully. No deaths or injuries were reported._" The video ended and the camera went back to the anchorman. "_This latest attack has military officials worried because the city is home to several power plants. In sports…_" The siblings turned to each other.

"Man… L.A. That's pretty close to here." Otto said.

"Yeah. I heard Dr. Coconutman has a base near here." Reggie stated.

"I heard that too. He's also supposed to be some kind of genius."

"Yep." Reggie nodded. "They say he has an I.Q. of three hundred."

"Woah… Hope he doesn't attack Ocean Shores."

"What reason would he have to?" Reggie asked, dipping into her cereal.

"You never know." Otto shrugged. "Hey Reg, why _do_ they call him Coconutman for?"

"He's got a body shaped like a coconut's?" The bat replied with a shrug of her own. "I don't have a clue why they call him that." The siblings were silent as they went back to eating.

Later…

At a garage across from the Rockets' home, you can hear a lot of noise, caused by metal clanging against metal. Inside, we see a biplane being worked on. It was mainly red with some yellow areas. On the sides of the plane, the word "Squid" was shown in white letters. On the ends of the wings was a symbol shaped like a squid. This symbol was also seen on both sides of the tail end of the plane. A yellow blur was zooming all over the vehicle.

"I can't believe you're working on this thing again." A voice said impatiently.

It belonged to an orange echidna. He was wearing a necklace that had a shark's tooth on it. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. You could see his fists. There were two spikes on each hand. A yellow and brown striped hat was on his head. A small amount of his quills went up the middle of his forehead. The blur went under the plane.

"There are just a few more adjustments to be made." Another voice said from under it. "Just you wait. Soon, the Twister will fly!" This was followed by an enthusiastic laugh.

"You've been saying that for months, Squid, and you haven't come close to finishing it." The echidna said, rolling his eyes. "And why did you name it after me, anyway?"

"I—Ugh!—didn't name it after you, Twister." The voice grunted as more clanging was heard. "I was stumped on what to call it and that—Ugh!—was the first thing that came to mind."

"Yeah right, Sam." Twister scoffed.

"I'm completely serious!" Sam grunted as he twisted another bolt. Seconds later, a splat was heard. "Aw yuck! Can you get me a can of oil, Twist?" The echidna uncrossed his arms.

"Sure. Where is it?" He asked as he walked towards a workbench.

"It's on top of the shelf." Twister looked up and saw the can of oil. He reached up to grab it, but he soon discovered it was too far.

"Man… I can't reach it."

"Do I have to do everything myself?" Sam grumbled as he crawled out from under the Twister. The echidna turned and broke out in laughter when he saw his friend.

Sam was a fox with yellow fur. He was smaller than his orange friend and kinda round. He was wearing a pair of glasses that had square-shaped lenses. He was also wearing a sports inhaler around his neck. The fur on the top of his head was arranged like a crew cut. He was different from most foxes because he had two tails instead of just one. The doctor that gave birth to him wasn't sure why he had the extra appendage. Because of the extra tail, he was teased and bullied in his hometown of Hutchinson, Kansas. Of course, all that ended when he moved to Ocean Shores.

Sam was a brilliant inventor. He has made plenty of things that help his mother around the house, as well as some other…less helpful things. For example, he's made a robot that does chores, but constantly breaks windows. He's also made some weapons, but we'll get to that later.

His current project was his biplane, the Twister. It's been close to a year since he started building it from the chassis of an old, beat-up plane, but it's almost completed. All he needs to do is connect the power supply to the engine and make a couple of adjustments to the various systems and it'll be done.

As for the reason Twister was laughing at him, he was covered with oil. One of his lenses was completely black, giving him the look of a pirate. His tails had some black spots too. Sam glared at him as he walked towards the workbench.

"Ha, ha. Very funny." He said sarcastically. "Now stand back so I get this can and get back to work."

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Alright, Sammy! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" Twister replied, moving back. He tripped and rolled along the floor while laughing. He pounded the floor as he tried to stop. Sam rolled his eyes before winding up his tails. When they were wound up completely, he let them go. The twin appendages spun like a helicopter's blades.

Sam kicked off the ground and floated in the air. He slowly ascended, being careful not to go too fast and hit the ceiling. When he was level with the can of oil, he grabbed it and descended. He landed and allowed his tails to stop spinning. He started walking back to the plane when he heard footsteps approaching. He looked towards the garage door. Twister finally stopped laughing and faced the door as well. The two saw Otto and Reggie coming.

"Hey guys. What's up?" The hedgehog asked. At the sight of the bat, Twister bolted up and got behind Sammy.

"S-s-stay away!" He yelled frightfully. Sam and Otto gave him a confused look before turning to Reggie, who shrugged.

"I went after his emerald yesterday." She simply said.

"_Again!?_" Sam and Otto slapped their heads.

"You know he's supposed to protect that thing." Otto scolded.

"It's his sacred duty." Sam added, nodding while crossing his arms.

"_What?_ Can I help it if I want it?" The bat defended.

"I keep telling you. You can't have it!" Twister yelled.

Reggie was an experienced treasure hunter. She can find anything of value in Ocean Shores and make it hers, no matter what; even if she has to resort to stealing to do so. She has a soft spot for jewels of any kind. For the past few months, she has been going after one of Twister's most prized possessions, the Master Emerald, a huge jewel capable of near infinite power. The echidna has done all he could to protect the emerald. It was his sworn duty as its guardian.

And how did he get charged with such a task, you ask? Well, truth be told, Twister found the Master Emerald one day while biking out in the forest with his friends. He took a major wipe out and came across it at the bottom of a ditch. He was mesmerized by its mystical glow. Forgetting the pain caused by the fall, he crawled over to it and reached out. As soon as he laid his hands on the jewel, it shined brightly and the boy's eyes went out of focus as he saw a vision. A female echidna wearing ancient clothing came to him. He blushed as he laid eyes on the woman.

"_Maurice Rodriguez,_" She said in a gentle tone. "_You must guard the Master Emerald. Protect it from evil._" Twister shook off the blush and gave her a questioning look.

"You want _me_ to guard this thing?" He gestured to the jewel. The other echidna nodded.

"_It is your heritage. Generations before you have guarded it and now it is your turn._" She replied. Twister looked nervous at this. How could he possibly protect this gigantic rock!? It was more than twice his size!

"Woah! I can't do this, lady! Why don't you ask Lars?! He's older than me!" The ancient echidna glared at him.

"_Are you crazy!?_" She yelled bluntly. "_He'll pawn it first chance he gets!_"

"Hmmm… Good point." He said, holding his chin. "And what makes you think I won't do the same thing?"

"_Because if you do, I'll haunt you til the day you die!_" She yelled, shaking her fist. "_I'll make sure you never get a date! Hell, girls won't even come near you!_" Twister gulped.

"Well, since you put it so nicely, I'll gladly take care of this emerald." He said with a nervous grin.

"_That's better. And if you lose it, I'll be coming back to kick your ass! I don't care if I am a ghost! You lose that rock and I'll have your head!!!_" And with that, she disappeared, leaving a shaking Twister behind. A yellow puddle formed near his legs.

And so, he's guarded it with his life. He refused to let anybody have it. After his acquisition of the jewel, many people have come to his door, begging for it. People from museums, jewelry stores, and even the Smithsonian have come, offering millions for the emerald. To the great shock of his parents, he turned down every offer. It seemed that the ghost's threat was fresh in his memory.

Of course, he has told his friends about the vision when he found the Master Emerald. They only laughed in response, thinking that it was the concussion talking. While Otto and Sam didn't think too much about it, except that Twister was majorly lucky, Reggie had stars in her eyes as soon as she laid eyes on it. She licked her lips greedily as she planned on how to get it. So, for months she's tried everything she could think of to get Twister to fork it over. Tiger traps, nets, snares; you name it, she's done it. She's even tried _fighting_ him for it! Of course, he's proved himself to be too strong for her. He didn't have those spikes on his fists for nothing!

And now back to our story.

"Are you gonna stop being afraid of me or what?!" The bat yelled impatiently.

"Only if you promise to stop trying to steal the Master Emerald!" The echidna barked. Reggie sighed.

"Alright, alright. I won't go after the emerald anymore." She said in an irritated tone. Twister didn't believe her one bit.

"Shake on it." He said with a glare. Reggie glared back as she walked forward. The echidna walked up to her and held out his hand. She pulled out her hand as well.

"Woogie, woogie, woogie, woogie!" They both said as they did their group's special handshake. Twister pulled back and sighed with relief.

"Finally. Now I won't have to stay up late guarding it anymore." There was a mischievous glint in Reggie's eyes after hearing that bit of information.

'_Perfect. I know exactly when to strike._' She thought, rubbing her hands greedily. The others looked at her curiously. She noticed their stares and rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Oh don't mind me! I was just thinking about something!" She chuckled. The guys shrugged before turning towards the Twister.

"So, working on this again, huh?" Otto asked.

"Of course! It's my masterpiece!" Sam said proudly. "Soon, it'll fly as high as the clouds. Just you wait!"

"Yeah, yeah." Otto rolled his eyes. "Come on! Get cleaned up so we can go to Mad Town!"

"Well, I _do_ need a break…" Sam said before grinning. "Count me in! I'll be right back." He started moving towards his house.

"And don't forget to grab your blades!" Otto yelled after him.

Later…

Sam came out of his house, clean and dressed in his skating gear. He skated over to his friends, who were also in their safety gear and blades. They were standing in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Otto looked particularly impatient.

"Took ya long enough!" He shouted, crossing his arms. "We could've been shredding by now!"

"Well, you guys could've left without me." The fox retorted. The hedgehog sighed.

"Never mind. Let's get going." The group started skating down the hill.

"Hey guys, how about a race?" Twister asked a minute into their trip.

"Sure. I'm down for that." Reggie replied, smirking competitively.

"Alright. Last one to the Shack's a shoobie!" Otto yelled before speeding up ahead of the others. The other furries grinned at each other before accelerating as well.

The quartet barreled down the hill at near top speed. Otto dominated the race for a few seconds before reaching a ramp. He skated up it and jumped off. He grabbed his legs and spun in the air. When he reached the apex of his jump, Reggie flew past him. He gasped when he saw Twister glide past him as well.

"Hey! No fair!" The hedgehog protested.

"Tough luck, bro!" Reggie retorted as she landed. "You didn't say we couldn't fly! Bust!" She laughed as she continued skating. Twister glided a few more feet before landing and continuing on. Otto growled as he increased his speed. Sam was still in last place. The fox had a smirk on his face as he struggled to keep up.

"That's it. Just let them get a little further." He said to himself.

Back with the other three, Otto caught up to Reggie and Twister. They were now neck and neck. Not wanting to get showed up by her brother like so many times before, the elder Rocket moved her legs faster.

"There's no way you're gonna beat me, Rocket Boy!" She shouted as she pulled ahead. The trio soon reached another ramp and jumped off it. Like before, the bat and echidna soared ahead of the hedgehog, who smirked.

'_Let's see you beat me after this._' He arched his body back and spun into a ball. Using his torque, he shot off like a cannonball past Reggie and Twister, who barely got out of the way.

"Watch it, Ottoman!" Twister yelled as he and the bat landed. Otto unrolled and landed as well. The trio was within striking distance of the pier. Sam was still a few yards behind.

"Ok! Time to use my secret weapon!" He yelled. He revved up his tails and let them spin like a propeller. He blazed ahead at an amazing speed. He got down from the hill and entered the pier in seconds flat. Otto, Reggie, and Twister were halfway down the straightaway when they noticed him. Sam zoomed past all three of them.

"No way!" Otto said in disbelief.

"Woah! How'd the Squid do that?!" Twister asked in the same tone.

"Sam, you're going too fast!" Reggie shouted urgently. Sam didn't seem to listen as he turned around and skated backwards while spinning his tails.

"So who's a shoobie now?!" He bragged, laughing heartily. He was about to turn around and end the race when suddenly, his tails got tangled up! Sam gasped. "What the—!?"

He was so preoccupied trying to untangle his tails that he didn't notice the approaching pothole. He ran over it and tripped, rolling into a ball. Otto and the others tried to stop, but they were going too fast. They too ran over the pothole and crashed into the fox. They rolled forward until they stopped in front of the Shack.

"Squid!!!" Otto, Reggie, and Twister yelled as they all sat up.

"Hey! Are you guys ok?" The voice of Ray was heard. The quartet turned and saw him, his wife Noelani, and Tito.

Like Otto, Ray was a hedgehog. His quills were a yellowish orange. He was wearing a green bucket hat. He was also wearing a white chef's jacket. Noelani and Tito were cats. The former was brown and slim. She had a long tail. She was wearing a light blue dress with floral patterns. She had a flower over her right ear. The latter was purple and big. He had a fluffy tail. Stripes that were a darker shade of purple decorated his body. He had bigger ears than his cousin. He was wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt. The fur on his head was tied into a ponytail. He also had a small goatee. The trio was wearing sandals.

"Yeah. We're fine, no thanks to Squid!" Otto shouted.

"What happened, little cuz?" Tito asked.

"We were racing and Sam got ahead of us…" Reggie trailed off. She turned to the fox in question. "How exactly _did_ you get ahead of us, anyway?"

"Yeah! We were at least a mile ahead of you!" Twister added.

"Well, I recently discovered that, aside from flying, I can use my tails to increase my speed on the ground." Sam replied. "I guess I need a little more practice." He added sheepishly.

"I'll say." Otto grumbled, crossing his arms. The group got up, but quickly fell to the ground again.

"What the—?!" The crimson hedgehog lifted his feet. His eyes widened.

"Oh nice going, Squid! Because of you, our skates are busted!!!" The other three looked at their blades. They were totaled. The part that held the wheels together on each blade was torn off. Some were barely intact. The wheels on each one had fallen off.

"Aw man! There's no way my mom's gonna buy me a new pair!" Twister wailed.

"She would if you sold the Master Emerald." Reggie muttered. The echidna sent her a glare for that one.

"Don't start." He warned.

"Oh man… I'm sorry you guys." Sam said apologetically. "That pothole came out of nowhere."

"Great! Now the whole day's wasted! It'll take forever to go back and grab our boards!" Otto seethed. Sam hung his head low as they took off their blades and stood up.

"Not necessarily." Noelani offered. The kids looked at her curiously. She turned to Ray. "Remember that new shipment you got this morning?" The older hedgehog put a hand to his chin.

"New shipment…" His eyes lit up. "Oh! You mean _that_ shipment!" His wife nodded. The group of four still looked confused.

"Uhhh… What shipment are you guys talking about?" Reggie asked. Ray turned to the quartet.

"We just got a shipment of some brand new skates and we need someone to endorse them." He said.

"Endorse, huh?" Otto asked, holding a hand to his chin.

"Yeah. We already got Keoni in on it." Tito spoke up.

"Keoni's here?" Twister asked in mild surprise. The cat nodded.

"He should be around here somewhere with his pet frog."

"So what kind of skates are we talking about?" Otto asked anxiously. It was clear he wanted to get back on wheels as soon as possible.

"Come on. I'll show you." Ray replied, walking down the ramp.

The others, except for Tito, who decided to watch the Shack, followed him into the rental shop. When they got inside, the taller hedgehog went into the back room. A minute or two passed before he emerged, carrying four shoe boxes. He set them down in front of the eager kids.

"These are the newest thing. They are just prototypes, but hopefully they'll work and become popular."

Otto and the others looked at each other before lifting the lids and taking out the boxes' contents. They were each holding a pair of what appeared to be sneakers. They were white on the front, black in the middle, and red on the back. There was a gold ring around a black & red flap where the feet go. The shoes had a red rim around the back & front halves. The bottom of each shoe had what seemed to be four mini rockets. The middle of each shoe was raised up to contain metal plates. There was a switch and a dial on the heel of each shoe. To each of the animals, they felt heavy, but strangely lighter than normal roller blades. They looked at the so-called "skates" with utmost curiosity.

"So what do you think? Ready to take them out for a spin?" Ray asked excitedly. The four looked up from the shoes. They still had that curious look on them.

"Uhhh… Raymundo?" Reggie asked after a minute of silence.

"Yes?"

"This may sound weird, but where are the wheels?"

"You don't need 'em." was the simple response.

"Huh!?" They all asked confusedly.

"These are called air skates." Ray explained. "You hover a few inches off the ground while skating. You can travel much faster than on normal roller blades."

"But what about grinding?" Twister asked. "There's no way we can use these shoes to slide down rails."

"That's what the plates are for. Come on. Let's go back up so you can test them out." Ray and Noelani left the shop. The others put on the air skates and followed. They were soon standing in front of the Shack. Otto, Reggie, Twister, and Sam were lined up side to side.

"So how do they work, Mr. Rocket?" The fox asked.

"First, before you even get started, flick the switches on each heel. This will activate them." Ray said. The kids did as they were told. A low hum was heard from each skate. "Next, turn the dials ONCE. This sets the speed you'll travel in. The first speed is a comfortable pace; much like when you go at a normal speed on regular skates." The group again reached down and turned each dial once.

"It's important that you _never_ turn the dial too high." Ray continued. "If it's turned too high, you could wind up traveling at supersonic speeds." The kids gasped at that.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say, '_supersonic_'?" Reggie asked in disbelief. Ray nodded.

"As in 'break the sound barrier' supersonic?" Sam asked in the same tone. There's _no_ way these skates can enable someone to go _that_ fast! To his surprise, Ray confirmed this with another nod.

"Of course, they're experimental, so we don't even know if they'll go that fast." Otto was speechless at this.

"Super-super-supersonic!? I can go supersonic with these!?!" He yelled when he got his voice back. "Oh yeah, baby! Now _that's_ extreme!" He punched the air.

"Woah, woah, woah Rocket Boy! I don't want any of you turning the dial any higher than what's safe. If you go too fast, you may wind up crashing into a wall." All except for the smaller hedgehog were shaken up by this. Ray noticed their frightened looks.

"Now don't worry!" He chuckled. "As long as you don't set it too high, you're safe." He glared at Otto. "That goes double for you. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah." The red hedgehog said, waving a dismissive hand. Ray rubbed his hand over his face and glared harder at his son.

"Who would send you something like this, anyway?" Twister asked.

"Yeah. Don't you think these skates are kinda—I don't know—dangerous?" Reggie added.

"After all, if they really _do_ let a person travel at supersonic speeds, they must use rocket fuel, right?" Sam asked.

"Don't worry. They won't explode on you." Noelani reassured. "They're perfectly safe."

"And as for who sent it to us, it was the Umbrella Corporation." Ray added with a creepy laugh. Everybody else gave him a freaked out look. He chuckled. "Just kidding! They were sent by a new sporting goods manufacturer."

"Come on! Enough stalling! Let's get to it!" Otto yelled impatiently. Everybody else rolled their eyes and got back to the task at hand.

"Alright. Since you're so eager, Otto, you go first." Ray said.

"I thought you'd never ask." The younger hedgehog replied with a smirk. He was about to start moving when he gave his dad a curious glance. "Uhhh… How _do_ I get started, anyway?"

"That's easy. Just pretend you're on normal roller blades." Otto gave the older hedgehog a weirded out look.

"Uhhh… Right. Just pretend." He said strangely. He took a deep breath and moved his feet as if he was on his blades. Almost instantly, the rockets at the bottom of each shoe started up.

"Woah!" Otto said in surprise. He hovered one or two inches off the ground. He found it difficult to maintain his balance.

"Just skate, Rocket Boy!" Ray shouted. Otto wobbled for a little bit before he moved his legs side to side. He glided forward.

"Hey! I think I'm getting used to this!" He grinned.

He leaned his body and blazed forward. It certainly felt a little easier than using his old blades. He increased his speed. He traveled a few more feet before he jumped and spun in the air. He landed and continued on when he discovered he was nearing the entrance to the pier. His eyes widened at the sight of the busy traffic ahead.

"Woah! How do I stop this thing!?" He yelled.

"Just stop moving your legs!" Ray replied, cupping his hands over his mouth. Otto did as he was told and stood straight up. He stopped moving and the skates deactivated. He lowered back onto the ground. "Ok, now come back."

"Alright Dad!" The young hedgehog skated back to his friends.

Everybody else had a turn to try out their skates. Reggie was able to adjust to the skates with ease. Twister had a little trouble, but soon, it was second nature to him. Sam, on the other hand, found it near impossible to skate for the first few minutes. Often, he wound up making the skates go in the different directions, causing a—shall we say—uncomfortable situation for him? After some much needed recuperation, he too mastered the air skates.

"So, you guys finally got the hang of it?" Noelani asked when they finished.

"Ohhhhh yeah! I'm about ready to tear up Mad Town!" Otto replied cheerfully. The others shouted with equal enthusiasm as they left the Shack.

"Don't forget to ask if anybody wants to endorse the air skates!" Ray yelled after them. "We got plenty left!"

"No prob, Dad!" Reggie replied, waving at him.

One by one, the quartet hopped on and grinded the nearby rail. Sparks were seen coming from their feet. Sam, of course, fell before he even got halfway down. He followed the others when he got up. When the other three members of the group reached the bottom of the ramp, they bolted into Mad Town, ready to give their new toys some much needed breaking in.

Unknown to them, however, they were being watched by Pi, Sputz, and Animal, flunkies of the notorious Lars Rodriguez. Pi was a human, Sputz was a pig, and Animal was a gorilla. They grinned evilly as they left the Shack.

"We better call Lars and tell him about this." Pi said. Animal gave no response while Sputz just mumbled something incoherent. The human rolled his eyes and made his way to the pay phone.

-----------------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

"And there you have it, folks!" I started. "Who is Dr. Coconutman? Will Reggie succeed in stealing the Master Emerald? What will Lars do when he hears about the air skates? Tune in next time!"

"Yo! Question." My partner said.

"What?"

"Why did you make Sputz a pig and Animal a gorilla?"

"Well, you could hardly understand a word Sputz says, right?"

"Yeah…" Izzy nodded.

"So I made him a pig because Porky Pig has somewhat of a speech impediment as well."

"Ohhh… And Animal?"

"Well, he's got muscles. That's why I made him a gorilla." I answered. Izzy shrugged.

"Heh. Works for me. Also, why was Tito purple?"

"Well, since I'm not having him play as Big, I decided to make him a living homage to that loveable ball of fluff."

"You are beyond weird." My partner said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I know." I gave a childish grin. Izzy gave me a freaked out look before turning to the camera.

"See ya next chapter! And please review!"

"Hey! That's my line!" I protested.


	3. The Three Hedgehogs’ Techniques

Pre-chapter Conversation

"Ahhhhh…" I yawned as I stretched my arms. "It feels good to be writing an adventure story for a change."

"Yeah, at least you're not doing any gross pairings for once." Izzy agreed, sighing with relief. "You're just gonna do that whole one-sided thing between Otto and Clio, right?"

"Yeah…" I replied, glowering at him. "But seriously, it's great to not be doing a romance fic. I mean, how do other authors do it? Concentrate on emotions, I mean. It's crazy hard! I'm more of an action guy, so it's next to impossible for me to concentrate on emotions for a long time if at all. But other people can write paragraphs or even _chapters_ on just one character's feelings!" I held a hand to my chin. "How on earth do they do it?"

"Worry about your shortcomings later!" My partner demanded. "We gotta get to business!" I rolled my eyes before turning to the camera.

"Welcome to chapter two! Before we begin, I just want to say that the characters will do animé actions in this fic."

"How come?" He asked. I turned to him.

"Well, we're doing a parody of a game, so I feel that it's quite alright to use animé stuff if the situation calls for it."

Izzy sweatdropped as I turned to the camera.

"Anyway, for this chapter, we're gonna introduce three more characters. You'll get to learn a little about them. How are they connected to this adventure? Read on to find out! Also, see what happens when Otto turns his air skates all the way up!" I winked. "And if you don't blink, you'll be able to see the villain of the story. Enjoy!"

----------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Two

The Three Hedgehogs' Techniques

::Brrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggggggg!!!!!!!::

Inside one of the bedrooms in Twister's home, a body stirred under the covers after hearing the shrill noise. A gloved hand reached out and hovered over the alarm clock. The hand balled up into a fist and descended at an alarming rate. Just inches from the clock, the fist and its owner glowed a bright green. The person disappeared and reappeared outside the bed in mid-air. Before the figure knew it, they fell to the floor with a crash. The alarm clock fell off the dresser and landed on their head.

"OW!!!" A male voice yelled in pain. The alarm finally stopped and was placed on the dresser.

"Stupid alarm…" The figure muttered as he stood, rubbing his head. He walked over to the mirror on his dresser.

He stared into the reflection of a purple hedgehog. There were brown highlights in his head quills, which were sticking out in different directions. Two of them on each side of his head were protruding. They went up slightly at the tips. Three smaller quills, which were completely brown, were in front of his right eye. There was a patch of red hair on his chest. It was shaped like a star. He scowled at his reflection.

"Stupid bed head…"

He grabbed a gray cap and put it on. Now his quills were behind his head. Only the brown areas showed. He grabbed a pair of red shoes and put them on. He then walked out of the room. On his way to the kitchen, he passed Twister's room. The door was open. Sitting on the bed was the Master Emerald, which was glowing brightly. It's amazing that the bed was able to hold up that much weight. The hedgehog glared at the jewel.

"Stupid emerald…" He hissed coldly.

Ever since Twister brought home the Master Emerald, the hedgehog has been having strange experiences. For one, he would always disappear and reappear someplace else. Most of the time, he wound up in a different area of the house, but other times, he wound up in a whole other state! In other instances, time around him would freeze. The amount of time everything would be frozen was always different. It can either take a minute or even days. The hedgehog timed himself in one particular instance. Time was frozen for an entire year!

Every incident was random. He had no idea if he would teleport someplace or if time would freeze. He wouldn't have a clue where he would end up or how long time would be frozen. He hated the jewel with a passion. It was bad enough the echidna wouldn't sell the thing and make his family rich, but these weird things keep happening to him. It was torture!

He gave the emerald one last glare before moving on to the kitchen. There, he found his parents. Unlike him, both of them were echidnas like Twister. Raoul was black with a little red in some places while Sandy was a reddish brown. The female was wearing a blue dress. The hedgehog was always curious about why his parents and brother were echidnas, but never brought up the question.

"Good morning, Lars." Sandy said when she saw him. Raoul mumbled the same greeting from behind his newspaper.

"Mornin'." Lars replied as he sat at the table. Sandy placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of him. The hedgehog grabbed his fork and started eating.

When he was halfway through his breakfast, he looked up at the newspaper. It had the same headline regarding the mysterious Dr. Coconutman, as well as a picture from the attack on the city near Los Angeles.

"Hmph. So, this Coconutman kook is still at it, huh?"

He received no answer.

"I said, 'this Coconutman kook is still at it, huh?'!" He repeated louder.

Still no answer.

"I said—!" He stopped himself and looked around.

Sandy was throwing away a couple of egg shells, but they were floating in mid-air. Raoul had dropped his coffee mug, but it still hasn't hit the floor yet. A couple of birds were flying past the window, but they never left his sight. The clock stopped at ten fifty-nine and fifty-nine seconds. Lars growled when he realized what happened.

"Time froze, AGAIN!!!" He cursed. "Why does this keep happening!? I've never even touched the stupid thing!!!" He sighed before he grabbed a strip of bacon.

"I wonder how long everything's frozen for _this_ time." He grumbled sarcastically as he chomped into the piece of meat.

He finished off his food and put the dishes in the sink. He left the kitchen and sat on the couch, waiting for everything to go back to normal. He sighed again.

"Who am I kidding? Even when time unfreezes, things will _never_ be normal. At least not until that dork gets rid of that emerald."

As soon as he said that, he heard a crash and his parents cursing. Lars held his head and shook it tiredly. A few moments passed before the phone rang.

"Hello?" Sandy answered. A few seconds passed before she walked into the living room. "Lars, it's your friend Pi."

"Finally, something interesting." Lars said as he reached for the phone. Sandy held it away from him.

"Just promise me you won't get into any trouble for once." The hedgehog rolled his eyes.

"Ok Mom. I promise." Sandy smiled and handed him the phone. Lars waited for her to leave before holding it to his ear. "So, anything good going on?"

"_Ohhhh__ yeah._" Pi replied. "_Your dork brother and his friends got a new pair of skates._" A flock of seagulls was heard in the background. Lars had a questioning look, though his flunky was unable to see it.

"Uhhh… Ok… And why exactly should I care?"

"_Dude! They're awesome! Wait until you see 'em!_" Pi yelled excitedly. Lars sweatdropped. His crony never got this excited about something dumb like what skates someone else was using. Still, maybe the dork patrol actually got some cool skates he could swipe.

"Alright. I'll be there in a few."

"_Alright. We're at the pier._"

"Duh! I guessed that when I heard the seagulls in the background!" Lars yelled before hanging up.

Sometimes he wondered why he hung around with such boneheads. Sure it was great to have people who will obey your every command, but you could never have an intelligent conversation. The hedgehog shook his head as he stood up.

"Oh well. Guess I better go see what he's so excited about."

He walked to his room and grabbed his backpack, blades, and safety gear. He put on the backpack and safety gear. He then moved into the living room.

"You're not going out, are you?" Sandy asked, walking in from the kitchen. Lars turned to her.

"Yeah. I got some stuff to do." He moved towards the door and got ready to put on his skates.

"Hang on. Your cousins are coming today." The hedgehog's eyes widened at that. He dropped the blades and faced his mother.

"_Cousins?!_ They were supposed to come _today_!?" Lars and Sandy turned towards the door when they heard a couple of voices.

"Do you think they're home, Cousin Clio?" A young male voice asked.

"Of course they're home, Little Scottie!" A female voice replied. "You see Uncle Raoul's car there, don't you!?"

"They're here!" Sandy said gleefully, clapping her hands.

"They're here…" Lars groaned, slapping his forehead.

"What are you standing around for?! Go open the door!" Sandy ordered. Lars rolled his eyes before walking forward. He opened the door to find his cousins standing.

"Took ya long enough!" Clio shouted impatiently.

Like Lars, she was a hedgehog. Her quills were red-violet. They were a darker shade than Reggie's shirt. Her head quills reached halfway down her back. She was wearing a yellow-green shirt that, strangely, had Otto's face pictured on it. She was wearing a pair of red jeans and green sneakers. She was also wearing a green headband and silver earrings. She picked up a few suitcases.

"Here. Make yourself useful and carry these inside." She stuffed them into Lars' arms. He stumbled a bit before getting his footing back.

'_Great. She hasn't even set foot in the house yet and already she's barking orders._' He thought as he grunted.

"What'd you pack in here, rocks!?!" He asked as he struggled under the heavy weight.

"Of course not!" Clio answered as she ran a hand through her quills. "I only brought the necessities."

"What, five months worth of make up?"

"Very funny." Clio said with a glare. "I brought enough clothes to last me a week." Lars started losing his balance again.

"Ugh! What else?!" He asked when he got everything under control.

"Let's see…" Clio started, bringing a finger to her chin. "I took five cases of my Otto Rocket brand shampoo, my Otto Rocket hair dryer, my Otto Rocket fax machine, my Otto Rocket microwave, my Otto Rocket cappuccino machine…" The hedgehog in the hat sweatdropped as his cousin counted off random items that had his rival's name on it.

Clio was a huge fan of Otto. She had just about everything the young hedgehog endorsed. There was just one tiny problem though. He didn't endorse anything!!! She just put a sticker bearing his face on everything she owned! The reason: she's in love with the scarlet hedgehog! Every time she sees Otto, she practically melts. She always tries to get him to go on dates with her. He always turns her down though. And for good reason too. He's only eleven, not to mention she's crazy!

"My Otto Rocket laptop, my Otto Rocket boom box, my Otto Rocket edition Gamecube, complete with the latest game, Super Otto Sunshine…" She continued.

"Ugh!" Lars groaned.

Every time she comes over, Clio chases Otto around town, begging him to marry her. It's amazing that she hasn't caught him yet. Like Reggie with trying to get the Master Emerald, she's tried everything in her disposal to catch the boy of her dreams. No amount of traps, snares, or even the strongest of nets was able to stop him. He just simply spun his way out of everything she threw at him. Needless to say, she hasn't given up on her quest for love and doesn't plan to anytime soon.

"Oh! Then there's my set of Otto Rocket beanie babies, my Otto Rocket plushies, my collection of Otto Rocketmon trading cards, my Otto Rocket—"

"Gee, why didn't you take your and Otto Rocket's love nest with you?" Lars mocked.

"Oh silly Lars." Clio admonished. "It would have been too heavy for me to carry." The hedgehog and Little Scottie fell over.

"I so walked into that one…" The older male grumbled as he got up and put the suitcases on the side of the door.

"Where's Cousin Twister!?" Little Scottie asked anxiously as he buzzed around. He was a bee. He was wearing a blue shirt. He was also wearing a pair of white sneakers and a backpack.

As long as Lars could remember, the energetic little bug has been nothing but trouble. He always wanted to hang around with all the older kids. Needless to say, it was an embarrassing situation whenever he came to visit. More often than not, he would get lost in the strangest of ways. For example, when he visited one time, a stray wind blew while he was at the park with Twister. Due to his light weight, he was blown a great distance. The echidna chased after him but quickly lost him to the winds.

In every instance, he came back home with barely a scratch and a story to tell, as well as a souvenir of some sort. In the above example, he came back with a miniature Statue of Liberty and a story about how he helped a sailor (who was a seagull) find his way back to his crew. While Sandy and Raoul would humor the child and inwardly thank God he was safe, Lars and/or Twister would be severely punished for losing him. Little Scottie was trouble, pure and simple.

"And where's Otto-wotto?" Clio asked with a sweet tone, causing Lars to sweatdrop.

'_Please tell me I don't have to baby sit!_' He prayed inwardly.

"I have no clue where the little twerps are." He lied, crossing his arms. He didn't need these two hanging around. Besides, he still had to get to the pier to see what Pi was going on about. Clio looked at him sternly.

"You better be telling the truth. Or else." She warned, causing the other hedgehog to smirk.

"Or else what?" He challenged.

"Or else I'll have to use my special hammer." Clio replied.

"Let me guess. Your Otto Rocket hammer? Pahahahahaha!!!"

"No… My Pika Pika Hammer!" Lars and Scottie gave her a strange look.

"Uhhh… Cousin Clio, don't you mean Pik**o** Pik**o**?" The bee whispered.

"No! I meant Pika Pika! Look!"

She reached behind her and took out a metallic mallet. On both sides of it was a pikachu's face. The center was red and the handle was yellow. It looked more like a little kid's toy than a weapon. Lars was beside himself with laughter.

"Oh yeah! I'm _really_ scared now! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" He pointed at her and continued with his giggling fit. He soon fell as he continued laughing, holding his sides. Clio suddenly had fire in her eyes. She raised the hammer above her head. Scottie backed away frightfully.

"Uhhh… Cousin Lars?" He said timidly.

"Hahahahaha… Yeah? What is it?" Lars asked, getting up. The bee pointed at their cousin, who was about to let loose her fury. The male hedgehog shrank back under her glare. "Oh crap!"

"Now you'll know not to underestimate my power!" Clio roared as she swung the hammer. Lars put his arms in front of his face in an effort to defend himself.

Before his cousin was able to strike, however, he glowed green and disappeared. The hammer crashed into the floor, creating a hole in the shape of Pikachu's head. The female hedgehog and the bee gaped at the hole.

"Where'd he go!?!" They both yelled.

----------------------------

Inside the house, Lars rematerialized in his room. He was in the same position he was in before he disappeared. After about a minute of nothing happening, he put his arms down and looked around. He blinked in confusion before sighing with relief.

"The emerald must've teleported me." He smirked. "I guess that thing has _some_ use after all."

He decided to play it safe and leave the house the back way. He grabbed a spare pair of skates and made his way to the pier.

----------------------------

"Oh man! I couldn't test my hammer out!" Clio wailed, disappointed that she couldn't bash her older cousin's skull in. She smirked evilly as she turned towards Scottie, who was smelling a flower. "Then again… Oh Scottie." She said in a sing-song voice.

"Yes, Cousin Clio?" The bee asked as he turned towards her. He sweatdropped when he noticed she had the hammer drawn back.

"Could you do me a teensy-weensy favor?" She asked with a devilish glint in her eyes. Scottie gulped as he backed away.

"Wh-what?" As soon as the word left his mouth, Clio swung the hammer horizontally. The result was a mini-tornado that swept up the bee.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" He screamed as he was spun around and around at a high velocity. He tried to fly out of the vortex, but it was no use. He was just not strong enough. The hedgehog's attack continued for another minute or so before it spit out Scottie. He was propelled high into the air, screaming all the while.

"Wow. That was some distance." Clio commented as her cousin became a star. She giggled as she opened one of the suitcases and grabbed her skates and safety gear. She then put it all on. "Once I show that cutie Otto my new moves, he'll absolutely love me!" And with that, she skated down the hill.

Meanwhile, at Mad Town…

The crowd situated outside the skate park cheered and roared as the group of four tore it up on their air skates. Twister was at the blader bowl. He made a few laps around it, building up his speed. Soon, he was going so fast that the spectators were unable to keep up with him. He was just an orange blur. He went up the side of the bowl and launched himself into the air. He went higher than anybody can go on normal skates. He must've shot up twenty or thirty feet in the air!

The echidna hugged his legs and allowed gravity to spin him a little before straightening out and punching the air. His spun his body once more before pointing his body ahead of him. He held his fists in front of himself and glided through the air. He descended and landed in front of the tunnel connecting the two sides of the park. He skated into the other side of the park, going alongside the walls and even the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Reggie was blazing around one of the more narrow bowls with ease. She jumped and did a few flips. Afterwards, she gained speed and propelled herself into the air. She flapped her wings and ascended, kicking the air the whole time. Once the bat reached a sufficient height, she brought her legs together and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She then stopped flapping and allowed gravity to affect her.

As she fell, she spun around like a power drill. She just kept spinning and spinning until she became a blur of different colors. The crowd oohed and ahhed at the display. When she was about five feet from the ground, she got out of the spin, spread out her wings, and glided along the ground before skating up to the nearby rail. She jumped on it and grinded it to the other end. She then went up to the half pipe, where Otto, Twister, and Sam were standing.

"Man! These skates are all time!" The echidna exclaimed when the bat joined them.

"No kidding. These rock!" Reggie agreed.

"Hey, you guys, watch this." Sam said before he dropped in. His skates activated as he sped down the wall and up the other side. He went into the air and did a light spin before turning around. When he got back on the half pipe, he revved up his tails and increased his speed.

"Aw man! Not this again!" Twister groaned as Sam ascended. The fox stopped spinning his tails and swung them around before landing back on the half pipe and spinning them again.

"Don't you remember what happened not even an hour ago, Squid!?" Otto shouted as the fox grabbed the edge of the pipe.

"Don't worry! I got it under control this time!" Sam replied as he started coming back towards them. He reached the other end and went high into the air. He tried to do an Ollie, but he was unable to fully spin around before gravity took affect.

"Heh. Just as I thought." Otto scoffed as Sam panicked.

"Oh no! I'm gonna beef it badly!" He wailed. His fear-stricken expression turned into a small grin. "Then again…" And with that, he spun his twin appendages and took flight, just barely avoiding crashing.

"Squid!" The rest of the group groaned.

The fox has done this maneuver many times before. He would usually pretend to mess up a trick and fall, but would fly before he even hits the ground. Of course, he also uses this tactic whenever he _really_ screws up a trick. Needless to say, the group didn't appreciate the ruse.

"Do you _always_ have to do that?" Reggie asked with a hint of irritability.

"Yeah! It's no fun if you don't crash!" Twister added. The bat rolled her eyes at the immaturity present in that statement.

"It's practically cheating!" Otto protested. Sam flew up to them and gave a shrug.

"Hey, if you got something, use it. Bust!" He laughed at the others' glares.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever! Hurry up and land so I can have my turn!" The hedgehog ordered.

"What's the matter, jealous that you can't fly like me and Sammy?" Reggie teased. Otto scowled at her and Sam, who was still grinning.

"No! Unlike you, I don't _need_ to fly to shred!"

"Ahhh. But what about when you beef it?" Sam asked, continuing their harassment. He landed alongside the bat.

"Yeah Ottoman. Not for nothing, but even _I_ could glide if I mess up a trick." Twister offered. Otto crossed his arms and turned away in response. He looked over his shoulders.

"Oh yeah?" He challenged with a smirk. "I don't need anything special like flying _or_ gliding to save myself from beefing it."

"Then prove it, Rocket Boy." Reggie dared. Otto kept his smirk as he got ready to drop in.

"Ok. You got it!"

And with those words, he jumped and moved his legs. When he was an inch away from the pipe, the rockets on his skates activated, propelling him forward. He launched off the other end of the pipe, grabbed his left foot, and spun around. He made two full rotations before straightening up and landing on the pipe. He sped along the wooden structure and up the wall. The others stepped back as he grinded the edge and went back down.

He got to the other end of the half pipe and jumped into the air. He grabbed both legs and flipped a couple of times before landing and skating backwards. When he reached the side his friends were on, he grabbed the edge and jumped off, righting himself in the process. When he reached the other side and went into the air, he crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he twirled around.

"Hey Otto! What happened to beefing it!?" Reggie reminded as the hedgehog returned to the half pipe.

"Let's see how you save yourself when you mess up!" Sam added.

"Come on, bro!" Twister encouraged. Otto put on a look of determination as he reached their end and soared into the air. He tried to land a really advanced trick, but screwed up his form and plummeted head first.

'_Here goes nothing!_' He thought as he arched his back. Like at the race earlier, he spun into a ball. He landed on the side of the pipe and rolled along it.

When he got to the other side, he flew up into the air. He stayed in a ball as he descended. He just kept rolling along the pipe, accelerating all the while. He soon went so fast that when he reached one end, he would use his momentum to land on the other side. Twister, Reggie, and Sam gaped at the scene. The crowd, meanwhile, roared at the spectacle. After about five rotations, Otto went up into the air and unrolled. He soon landed on the same side as his friends, who were cheering.

"Oh man… That was…tough…" He panted, leaning against the railing.

"Woah! That was intense, dude!" Twister shouted, giving his best bro a thumbs-up.

"I gotta admit. That was tight, little bro." Reggie agreed. Otto caught his breath and gave Sam a cheeky grin.

"So what do you have to say now, Squid!?" Sam sighed and gave his friend a smile.

"I guess you _do_ have a method of protection after all." Otto grinned at the answer and stood proudly.

"Oh great! Now he's gonna get big headed." Reggie groaned. Twister and Sam laughed at that. Otto rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I don't get big headed!" He defended.

"Oh really?" Reggie challenged with a grin and her arms crossed. Otto groaned.

"Ok. I don't get big headed _all_ the time." Sam and Twister offered the same look Reggie was giving him. Defeated, the hedgehog turned away with a huff.

"Forget about it! Let's shred!" Reggie said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Otto turned and gave a grin.

"Alright, but first I need to adjust these skates." He bent down and reached for one of the dials.

"Otto…" His sister warned.

"Dude! Don't you remember what Raymundo said!?" Twister added.

"Turn it too high and you'll wind up splattered against a wall!" Sam yelled frightfully, covering his eyes.

"I know what he said! I'm just…turning it up a little so that I'll get more air." Otto defended, standing up..

"I'll bet." Reggie crossed her arms. "Knowing you, you'd turn it up all the way." The hedgehog glowered.

"Look, I'm not gonna turn it too high." He started impatiently. He bent down again and reached for the dial on his right skate. "I'm just going to tweak it a little."

And true to his word, he did. He turned the dial up two notches. What he didn't notice though was that the skate was now set to "Crazy Fast." There were only three notches above that one. They were each marked, "Awesomely Fast," "Superman Fast," and "Supersonic." Next to the last marking was a picture of a skull and crossbones. Otto set the other skate the exact same way. Both of them gave a loud hum.

"Here goes!"

"Otto! Wait!" Reggie ordered, but it was too late. Her brother jumped off and activated the skates.

As soon as they started, Otto felt a great jolt from the skates. The rockets burned with a somewhat higher amount of energy. His speed increased dramatically. Everything around him was starting to blur slightly. Despite the high velocity, he got used to it pretty fast. After a few shaky moments, he was soon skating with ease again. The rest of the group was barely able to keep up with the young hedgehog, who went at least forty feet in the air. Everybody who was watching practically stretched their necks as they looked up. Those without sunglasses had to place their hands over their eyes to block out the sun.

Because he was so high, Otto was able to perform a multitude of tricks on his way down. He did a couple of 360s, some back flips, and a couple of spins, as well as some other tricks. To avoid going splat due to the high speed, he rolled into a ball just before reaching the half pipe. He rolled to the other end and shot up into the air. He unrolled and did a few more stunts before landing. He was just a crimson streak as he went back and forth. The flames of the skates' rockets flashed as he grinded the opposite edge of the pipe before returning to his friends.

"See, Reg? I told you it was alright!" Otto bragged to his sister, who looked the other way in response.

"You didn't say that at all." Sam corrected.

"Details." Otto waved a dismissive hand.

"Way to tear it up, O-man!" Twister cheered, giving his best friend their traditional handshake. "Too bad I didn't bring my camera though… I would've gotten mad footage."

"So go back to your house and get it." Otto offered. "All you gotta do is set your skates the way I set mine and you'll be back in no time."

"Oh no you don't!" Reggie interjected. "I'm not about to explain to Twist's mom why her son is a pancake!"

"I'm not a pancake!" The echidna in question protested. Otto rolled his eyes before turning to his sister.

"Do you _always_ have to ruin everything?" He asked with a groan.

"I'm trying to save your life!" Reggie roared. "I'm older, so I'm responsible for you guys!"

"But—"

"That's ok, Ottoman. Little Scottie and Clio are supposed to come over today, anyway. I don't feel like dealing with my little cousin right now." Twister said. The rest of the group groaned.

"Talk about double the trouble." Sam said.

"Yeah." Otto agreed. "Between Little Scottie trying to hang with us and Clio going crazy over me, it's gonna be one hell of a…" He turned to Twister. "How long are they staying for?"

"I think my mom said a week." The echidna replied.

"It's gonna be one hell of week." The hedgehog groaned, slapping his head.

"Chill, Otto. At least Clio is fun to hang with." Reggie offered.

"When she's not trying to get Otto to marry her, you mean." Sam stated, causing Otto to shiver.

"Man… What is your cousin's deal, Twist?" He asked.

"Beats me." Twister shrugged.

"Well, as long as she doesn't try to hug me to death like some kind of stuffed toy, I'll be ok."

Nothing more was said as the group went back to skating around. After about an hour, the group was panting as they regrouped on the side of the pipe that had the stairway.

"I'm getting hungry…" Sam said, rubbing his growling stomach.

"Yeah… My legs are thrashed." Twister groaned, rubbing his sore limbs. "These new skates may be cool, but ya gotta keep moving your legs in order to make them work."

"You say that like it's a bad thing!" Otto laughed, stretching his legs.

"At least now we get more exercise." Reggie added.

"Like we need it?" Twister asked. "Well, besides Sam, I mean."

"Hey!" The fox yelled, glaring at him. The echidna raised his hands in defense.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Let's just go to the Shack and take a break." Otto said, moving towards the stairs. He grinded down the railing while the others simply walked down the stairs.

They were about to leave the park when Sam raised a very important question.

"Hey, if we were using skates that use rockets to propel us, why didn't the half pipe—"

"**SQUID!!!**" Everyone else roared. They then heard a crackling sound. Their eyes widened as they turned towards the half pipe, which was ablaze.

The flames rose at least ten feet in the air. Pillars of smoke emitted from it. The other skaters in the park and the spectators ran for their lives. Conroy panicked as he grabbed the phone and called the fire department. Otto, Twister, and Reggie glared at Sam.

"You just HAD to say something, didn't ya!?" Twister yelled.

"That's twice in one day you messed up, Squid! You're on a roll!" Otto added sarcastically.

"I didn't know that was going to happen, honest!" Sam defended.

"Never mind! Let's get outta here before the police arrive!" Reggie yelled. She, Twister, and Sam skated out of the pier. Otto stayed behind. He smirked evilly as he reached towards his skates.

"I should really thank Sam. This is the perfect distraction." He snickered as he reached the dials. "What they don't know won't hurt them." He turned both of them all the way up to "Supersonic." The hedgehog felt a strong vibration from the skates as he got into a starting position.

"Let's go!" He moved his legs forward.

As soon as the skates started, Otto was thrown towards the beach at an impossible speed. Everything around him slowed down to a snail's pace as he skated past the sand and along the surface of the water.

"Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!" He screamed, trying to gain control. "I'm going way too fast!" Everything paused as he looked at the camera.

"Woah. Never thought _I'd_ say that." Everything unpaused and he continued moving.

Towers of water rose as he blazed along the ocean. He was coming towards a school of dolphins that were jumping through the water. The hedgehog covered his eyes as he approached them. He sped by the group, tossing them into the air in the process. Otto put down his arms and noticed that he was out of danger. He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Whew! Now to turn around."

He started struggling to turn around when he noticed he was heading towards an oil tanker!!! His eyes grew as wide as saucers.

"Oh craaaaaaaaap!!!" He yelled as he shifted his weight to the left. He was able to go around the huge ship. He straightened up and was moving forward again.

"Ugh! I gotta control myself!" He grunted as he put all of his concentration into turning around.

Otto was about halfway to Hawaii when he finally turned his body towards where he thought Ocean Shores was. He sped off towards home. He soon got within ten miles of his hometown without incident. He grinned as he skated along a huge wave that was starting up. He went up and down with the greatest of ease. He swerved around surfers, who seemed to be going slower than a turtle. They didn't even notice him pass. The hedgehog's grin widened.

"Ha! I knew I'd get the hang of this!" He shouted joyfully as he turned towards shore. He blazed through the beach, spraying sand all over the place. He then proceeded to skate all over the town, working on his turning.

Otto breezed through the town with minimal difficulty. The vehicles, the people; hell, even the small, non-anthropomorphic animals were moving too slow for him. He laughed cheerfully as he bounced from building to building. He even skated up and down a few of them. Anybody who had a bird's eye view of the town could easily see a red blur zooming all over the place.

As a matter of fact, someone _was_ watching the hedgehog's movements.

Flying high above the town was a small, gray, bird-like robot. It was the size of a pigeon. The cameras in its eyes constantly focused and unfocused. The footage was being transmitted to a screen in an undisclosed location.

"Excellent." A male voice was heard as a figure watched Otto speeding around. The image on screen changed to Lars skating towards the pier. Reggie, Sam, and Twister were also shown. The owner of the voice gave an evil laugh.

"Perfect. Once I get their life data, I will build the ultimate robot to help me conquer the world! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

He turned towards a door. Pictured on it was a white outline of a face. It seemed to be wearing a pair of glasses and a hat. The door opened and two red dots were seen.

"It's time for a little field training." The figure said. "Search for those that have the same genetic information as the God of Destruction!"

"_Yes Master._" A cold, lifeless voice replied. It had a familiar tone; like it belonged to a certain skater. A red blur zoomed out of the room. The figure took a deep breath.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—::Cough:: ::Hack::—Can't…breathe! Need my…medication!"

----------------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

"Who was that figure?" I started. "Why was he watching Otto and the others? What was causing that blur (the second one)? Will Clio get with the boy of her dreams? Will Little Scottie ever get down? Find out next time!"

"Hey! How come Twister can make fat jokes while I can't!?!" Izzy protested. "_I'm_ the one who hates Sam!!!"

"Don't worry." I said, turning to him with a smirk. "Twister _will_ get his."

"Hmph!" He grunted, crossing his arms. "Whatever. And who the hell's playing as Robotnik!?!"

"You should already know who's playing as him." I chuckled. Izzy raised an eyebrow at me.

"Huh?"

"Just look at the symbol on that door in the last scene." I answered, turning to the camera. "See ya next time!"


	4. A Robbery and a Kidnapping or Two!

Pre-chapter Conversation

The scene opened in the studio. Izzy and I were standing around. I had a paper in my hand. I had a somewhat saddened look on my face. Izzy, meanwhile, had his usual bored look on his face.

"Aw man…" I sighed, taking a look at the paper before facing the camera. "Ya kinda ruined the surprise, Warior. Hard to believe the identity of one of the characters in the fic was revealed so easily."

"Pfft!" Izzy scoffed, crossing his arms. "It shoulda been obvious what the name of that character was gonna be from the start, especially if ya play through Sonic Heroes!" I gave him a tired expression.

"Maybe… But I didn't want anybody to figure it out before he shows up."

"Yeah, in like ten chapters!" He retorted. I sweatdropped and rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"Heh, heh… Forgot about that part…" I faced the camera again. "Anyway, if you _must_ know, Warior, You-know-who is not going to be played by anyone. Instead, he'll be a fan character of my own creation."

"'You-know-who?'" Izzy started, raising an eyebrow. "What the hell? Why can't you just outright say Met—Mmph!?!" I had slapped my hand over his mouth before he finished that name.

"Because, smart mouth, I don't wanna spoil the story!" I answered, letting go. I turned to the camera. "Hey, speaking of fan characters, I've been thinking about something lately."

"What?"

"You know how I transformed the RP cast into animals?"

"Yeah…" Izzy nodded.

"Well, I've been wondering. If I were to write a Sonic fic that involved Otto and co. in their furry forms, would I be able to fool anyone into thinking they were my own characters, or would they figure out that they're Rocket Power characters?"

"Oh please! Boss, the show may be unpopular, but nobody's stupid enough to actually think they were your own characters!" My partner rationalized. "Besides, if you pulled something like that, wouldn't it count as copyright infringement?"

"Of course not." I answered, causing him to raise a confused eyebrow at me. "Even _if_ people figured out the truth, it wouldn't count because of the disclaimer I always put before the beginning of my fics, specifically this line: 'Nothing that is copyrighted belongs to me.'" I stuck my tongue out at him. "Besides, you don't _really_ think I'd be dumb enough to _claim_ them as my own property, do ya?"

"Well, you've done stupid things in the past." Izzy said matter-of-factly.

::WHAM!::

My partner stumbled around dizzily, nursing his newly acquired lump.

"I'm gonna ignore that one." I said, putting my mallet away. I turned to the camera. "Anyway, for this chapter, two of our teams will be complete as all of our heroes will finally be introduced. A few of them will even get their air skates while some of them will have to wait until the next chapter. Who will be the lucky ones? Read on to find out! Also, I'm going to do the best possible thing you could do to Lars and Reggie."

"Pffft! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Izzy rolled along the ground as he laughed. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's so funny?"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA—YOU!" He answered, getting up and dusting himself off. "_You_, writing the best possible thing an author can have Reggie and Lars do? Yeah right!"

"I'm serious." I said, glowering at him. He only snorted in disbelief. "Why is it so impossible for me to do that?"

"Simple." Izzy started, smirking. "Ninety-seven percent of all RP fans consider _kissing_ the best possible thing Lars and Reggie can do, and you would _never_ dream of writing a make-out scene between them, would ya?" He gave me a sarcastic grin, which I countered with a genuine one.

"Right." I said, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Then there's one percent of all RP fans, the slash fans. Their idea of the best possible thing to happen between Lars and Reggie would be him slapping her senseless, blowing her up, or anything that can be considered as the author bashing her."

"Huh?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him. "I've never written a single slash fic in which Reggie was harmed in any way!" Izzy glowered at me.

"First of all, who said anything about you? Second, you _did_ cause harm to befall her in both a slash _and_ normal fic!"

"When did I do that?" Izzy gaped at my question.

"I can't believe you forgot…"

"Humor me." I said, shrugging. "When did I do it?" Izzy slapped his forehead.

"The Runaway: Chapter ten." He simply said. He then shuddered at the memory of that fic. Meanwhile, I held a hand to my chin, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

"Oh! I get it!" I said, snapping my fingers. "When Otto turned her to stone, right?" Izzy got out of his somewhat disgusted state and nodded.

"Yep."

"Then what was the second fic?" I asked.

"Rocketmon." He simply answered.

"Oh yeah…" I said, nodding in understanding. "Because she kept blasting off due to Sam's pikachu." Izzy growled when I said his rival's name. He then shook his head.

"Right. Anyway, to wrap things up, there's the last one percent of all RP fans." He started before snarling. "_You…_"

"Hey! Why do I get my own percentage!?" I protested. Izzy gave me a knowing look.

"Because you always do idiotic things. You'd probably do something incredibly stupid with them. So what is it?" I glared at him.

"Ya know, you really need to have a little more confidence in me than that. After all, I _did_ hook you up with a girl."

"Yeah. That was the _only_ thing ya did right." He countered. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever." I turned to the camera. "Anyway, see ya later!"

------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Three

A Robbery and a Kidnapping or Two!

"Oh, where's my dear Otto?" Clio sighed as she skated around; not taking any notice of the red blur that would pass every few seconds. She was close to the beach area.

"I must've looked everywhere and I can't find him." She looked down sadly.

She desperately wanted to find the hot hedgehog and give him a cheerful hello and maybe even sneak a kiss or two. She blushed and giggled at the thought. She also wanted to tell him how much she loved him. You'd think she would've run out of reasons long ago, but nope. She thought up of a whole lot more since she last saw him.

"Chaaaaoooo!!!" A tiny voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Huh? What was that?" Clio asked, looking around.

"Hey! Let go already!" A gruff, female voice yelled.

"Chaaaaoooo!!!" Another small voice squealed.

"Ow! Those are my ears!" The second voice shouted. Clio walked up to a bush and looked over it.

The hedgehog saw a small rabbit that was up in the air. Her fur was red. She was wearing a blue shirt under a green dress that had a flower pictured on it. She was also wearing a pair of green shoes. She was wearing blue ribbons on the bases of her ears. She seemed to be scowling at two creatures that were holding her up by her ears.

"Let go of me!!!" The girl ordered. The two creatures only giggled playfully in response.

One of the creatures was light blue. The ends of its flipper-like limbs were yellow. It had two small pink, butterfly-like wings on its back. It had a ball-shaped tail. It had a round head that was shaped like a tear drop. The very tip of its head was yellow. Floating above it was a ball of the same color. Finally, it was wearing a red bowtie. The other creature looked exactly the same, except it was brown and wearing a blue bowtie. Its wings were also blue.

The girl looked extremely livid.

"I said BACK OFF!!!"

She kicked at the creatures, causing them to let go. Gravity quickly affected her. She fell a few feet before she spread out her ears and flapped them like wings. She floated back up to (what Clio figured were) her pets.

"I don't know why Mom and Dad decided to get me you two for! You both stink on ice!!!" Her pets sulked as they followed her back to the ground.

"Chao…" The light blue one said sadly.

"Chao…" The brown one agreed. The rabbit touched down and dusted herself off.

"How is anybody supposed to be afraid of me if I'm stuck with you two?" The little girl muttered as she crossed her arms.

"Ohhhh! They're so cute!" Clio exclaimed as she jumped out of the bush, startling the rabbit and her pets. The other girl gave her a cautious look as her pets flew behind her. "Your chao are adorable!" She held her hands together while her eyes twinkled in excitement. The rabbit's chao gave the hedgehog a confused look. The balls on their heads turned to question marks.

"You know, I had a chao once. It was red, just like my darling Otto." Clio continued. "We used to play together all the time. We hugged each other everyday, though I think it was usually out of breath when we finished. I always bought it the best toys."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Then one day, I saw a gray cocoon inside the little chao house it lived in. And then…" She sniffled. "And then, it disappeared! My poor baby disappeared!!!" She wailed. The rabbit and her chao sweatdropped at that whole thing. The chao in particular were incredibly nervous.

'_This freak must be death for chao._' The rabbit thought. She gave her pets an evil look. '_Maybe I should…_' She shook her head. '_Nah. Mommy and Daddy would find out in a heartbeat._'

Clio cried for about a minute longer before she got up and put on a happy face.

"Enough about me! What's your name?"

"The name's Mackenzie, sister." The rabbit grunted, crossing her arms.

"No. I meant your chao." Mackenzie fell over. She got back up and looked ready to kill. She growled before she relaxed.

"That's Cheese." She said, flicking a thumb at the light blue chao, who bowed. "And that's Chocola, its twin brother." She pointed at the brown chao, who also bowed. The hedgehog giggled before bowing herself.

"I'm Clio. Pleased to meet you." She bounced over to the chao. "You both look so cuddly. I could just hug you and squeeze you until you collapse from lack of air!" The chao's eyes widened at that. The balls on their heads turned into exclamation points. They hid behind their owner again.

"At least now we know what happened to _her_ chao." Mackenzie said to herself while rolling her eyes. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the older girl. "Listen dork! You better mind your own business or else!" Clio wasn't paying attention though. She was too busy ogling at the chao. The rabbit fell over again.

"I _knew_ they were bad for my reputation…" She groaned, slapping her head.

Clio grabbed Cheese and started tickling it. The chao struggled to get away before it suddenly smiled.

"Cootchy, cootchy coo!" She laughed as she continued playing with it. The chao, whose ball had turned into a heart, giggled in response. Chocola flew towards the hedgehog with a curious look. Before it knew it, Clio grabbed it too and tickled it.

"So you wanted some too?" She grinned as she tickled both chao. All three of them laughed merrily. Mackenzie, however, balled her fists at her side and growled at the sight. She gritted her teeth at the scene of happiness. Her eyes flared with fury at the display of cuteness. She was about to pounce on the older girl when a low croaking filled the air.

"Ugh! What now!?" She groaned. Even Clio looked up from the chao as the croaking grew louder.

"Chao, chao?" Both chao asked curiously as they floated up. Their balls became question marks.

"Hey, what's that noise?" The hedgehog asked.

"You think _I'd_ know!?" Mackenzie shot back.

Just then, a frog leapt onto her face! It was green and had several yellow stripes along its body. The weird thing about it was that it had a tail.

"Ack! Get it offa me!!!" The rabbit panicked as she moved around, struggling to get the reptile off her. Clio moved towards her and tried to grab the frog, but couldn't get close due to her flailing.

"Stand still so I can grab it!" She ordered. The rabbit stood still, allowing Clio to reach out towards it.

Just before she could grab the amphibian, it hopped off Mackenzie's face and clung to Cheese!

"MMMMMMMMPH!!!" The chao's screams were muffled by the frog. Clio and Chocola grabbed on and tried to pull it off, but the frog held on tight. The girl grunted as she turned to Mackenzie, who was sitting on the ground after the frog kicked her.

"I could use some help here!" The younger girl shook her head and stood up.

"Uhhh… Right!" She said reluctantly as she grabbed onto the frog and pulled. They didn't seem to be making much progress. The frog held on tight. The girls and the chao refused to give up though! They pulled and pulled, but like them, the frog refused to give up.

The struggle continued for quite some time before…

"Froggy! Where are ya, brah!?" A male voice yelled.

"Ugh! Who's that?!" Clio grunted.

"Again, you think I'd know!?" Mackenzie replied.

"Chao, chao, chao!" Chocola squeaked as it pulled. The trio looked over their shoulders and saw a figure approach on skates.

"Froggy! Come out already, cuz!" The figure was looking around, calling out that name. Their eyes widened when they noticed that he was coming towards them at a high speed. They sweatdropped and turned to each other.

"He's not stopping, is he?" Clio asked.

"Nope." Mackenzie replied.

"Chao!" Chocola screamed. They all scrambled to pull the frog off Cheese to avoid a nasty collision. However, it STILL wouldn't let go! The figure got closer and closer until…

::CRASH!::

Everybody was groaning as they lied in a pile. The figure was lying on top.

"Oh bruddah… What happened?" He asked dazedly.

"Ribbit." His eyes widened as he looked up. The frog was lying on his stomach. The figure grabbed it and wrapped his arms around it.

"Froggy! I found ya, brah!" He cheered. Froggy croaked as he wrestled out his owner grip and hopped on his head.

"I'm real happy for you." Clio grunted. "Now, do you think you could—?"

"GET OFFA ME NOW!!!" Mackenzie roared. She was at the bottom of the pile. Everybody else got up and offered their apologies to the irate girl.

After the rabbit, hedgehog, and chao dusted themselves off, they got a good look at who crashed into them.

Froggy's owner was a cat. Like Tito, he was purple and had dark stripes going along his body. Of course, he was smaller than the previously mentioned adult. Also, his tail wasn't as fluffy. The fur on his chest was white. He took off his helmet to reveal his ears, which were a normal size, unlike Tito's. He was wearing a belt around his waist as well as safety gear. He was also wearing a pair of air skates. Froggy jumped on his head. Clio gasped as she recognized him.

"Keoni? Is that you?"

"Huh?" The cat looked the hedgehog over and grinned. "Clio! How goes it, cuz?" They both shook hands. They both started to talk and reminisce about old times. Mackenzie, annoyed that she was ignored, crossed her arms and gave the two an impatient look.

"So, are you still going after Otto?" Keoni asked after a few moments of talking.

"Of course!" Clio replied with a smirk. She pointed a thumb at herself. "You know me. I won't give up until I win his heart!" Keoni shook his head and chuckled.

"Guess _you've_ never changed, huh?"

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean!?" Clio yelled with a glare. She brought out her Pika Pika Hammer. At the sight of the weapon, Cheese and Chocola hid behind Mackenzie, who still looked angry. Keoni sweatdropped and held his hands in defense.

"I didn't mean anything by it! It's just that—"

"HEY!!!" Mackenzie shouted. It was clear she was tired of having the attention taken away from her. The two older furries turned to her. Keoni smiled at her.

"And who's _this_ cute little bunny?" Mackenzie's eyes widened in shock. He did NOT just say what she _thought_ he said!

"CUTE!?!" She roared with a fiery glare. The cat was unaffected, however.

"Uh-huh." He replied sweetly. Mackenzie's stare only intensified. Being all too familiar with her volatile temper, Cheese and Chocola floated away from her.

"Oh I'll show ya cute!"

And with that, she snatched Clio's hammer out of her hands and brought it crashing down on the cat's left foot.

"YEOWCH!!!" Keoni screamed as he hopped up and down on his right foot while holding his other foot. Mackenzie didn't end there though.

She slammed the hammer onto his right foot, causing him to stumble over in pain. The "cute" bunny then whomped him hard over the head. Of course, Froggy jumped away before he became a frog pancake. Keoni screamed for mercy as she continued her assault. Clio, Froggy, and the chao sweatdropped as a cloud of dust appeared where the beating was taking place. They watched Mackenzie continue her relentless thrashing for a few minutes before Clio decided to interject.

"Ok! Come on! Break it up! Break it up!"

She rushed inside the cloud and grabbed the hammer out of Mackenzie's hands. The cloud dissipated, revealing the bunny shaking the cat while choking him. The pets' eyes widened. Clio put the hammer away and grabbed onto the younger girl.

"Let him breathe!" She yelled, trying to pull her away.

"No! He called me cute! Nobody calls me cute and lives to tell about it!" Mackenzie shot back, tightening her grip. Keoni sputtered for air as Clio pulled her off him. She held the little girl back as she tried to get to the cat.

"Are you alright?" She asked when she got Mackenzie under control. Keoni coughed as he stood up and stumbled around.

"Ugh… Yeah…" He said dizzily. "Who knew such a cute girl had such a right hook?"

"You're pushing it, pal!" The rabbit yelled.

"Enough!" Clio shouted. She sighed. "So anyway—" She was interrupted by what sounded like a jet engine. It was a little far off, but it still sounded loud. Everybody looked around themselves.

"What is that?" Keoni asked.

"I have no idea." Clio replied.

"Chao…" Cheese and Chocola said frightfully.

"Ribbit." Froggy croaked in the same tone. They floated/hopped towards their owners.

"Hey look!" Mackenzie yelled, pointing towards the distance. Clio and Keoni turned and gasped.

A red blur was heading towards them, and fast!!!

Seconds later, whatever was causing the blur sped by. Thanks to its slipstream, a great gust followed it, causing Froggy and Chocola to get swept away! The others were knocked to the ground.

"Chao!" Cheese yelled after its brother.

"Chao…!" Chocola yelled back. Its voice was fading fast.

"Chocola's gone!" Clio yelled tearfully.

"Chocola's gone!" Mackenzie cheered.

"Froggy!" Keoni shouted after his pet. It was no use. The frog and chao were gone…

Everybody stood up.

"What _was_ that?" The cat asked.

"Beats me." Mackenzie replied.

"Whoever that was looked just like…" Clio started.

She saw the owner of the blur clearly. There was no mistaking it. The dreadlocks, those sunglasses, and that body. The strange thing was that he looked…different. The figure's quills seemed to be brought back, streamlined, and almost…metallic? Not to mention his eyes… Behind the shades, Clio only saw two red orbs that were staring straight ahead. There wasn't any life in them. Only cold…and death.

"Otto." The cat and the rabbit turned to her.

"_That_ dork? _He's_ the one who took Chocola?" Mackenzie asked.

"He took Froggy? Are you sure?" Keoni added in disbelief.

"I know I saw him." Clio said, nodding at them. "But how did he go that fast?"

"First of all, we don't know if that was him or not." Keoni started. "Unless…" He held his chin.

"Unless what?" The others asked.

"He could have gotten a pair of air skates and turned them all the way up. But how could he possibly control himself?" Mackenzie and Clio gave him a questioning look. Cheese's ball became a question mark.

"Air what?" Clio voiced their collective thoughts. Keoni explained the skates and how they work. When he finished, the older girl gave an excited squeal.

"Wow! They can really do that!?!"

"Yeah, but if you're not careful, you could crash into something and really hurt yourself." Keoni replied. "I still don't get how he could've controlled himself though."

"He's Otto! My love can do anything if he sets his mind to it!" Clio replied holding her hands. The other three members of the group sweatdropped.

"So now we know he did it. We gotta find him!" The cat said, clenching a fist. "I say we team up, go look for him, and get Froggy back!"

"Yeah! Once we find him, I'll get him to marry me!" The hedgehog agreed. She turned to Mackenzie. "And we can get Chocola back." The rabbit crossed her arms in response.

"Yeah right. Who said I wanted it back? He could have it for all I care!" She was about to walk off when Cheese got in her way. "Get outta my way!"

"Chao, chao." Cheese shook its head. "Chao, chao, chaaaaoooo, chao."

"Huh?" The rabbit asked, giving it a confused look.

"It wants to find its brother. That should be pretty obvious." Keoni said, giving her a smirk. Cheese nodded in response. "So what do you say?" The rabbit huffed, not finding any way out of it.

"Alright, alright! I'll come along and get the stinkin' thing back."

They then brought their hands together, sealing the deal.

"Come on. Let's go back to the Shack." Keoni said, strapping on his helmet.

"What for?" Clio asked.

"Well, at the moment, only _I'm_ capable of keeping up with Otto. We gotta get you guys some air skates."

And with that, he skated towards the Shack. Clio, Mackenzie, and Cheese followed. Clio by skating in her blades and Mackenzie and Cheese by flying.

Thus, Team Rodriguez was born.

Meanwhile, at the pier…

"Alright Pi, I'm here." Lars said as he reached his cronies. "Now what was it you—What the hell happened here!?!" He gaped as he looked at the half pipe.

It was completely charred. It was split in two. Smoke was coming out of the pieces in small amounts, but the fire that occurred earlier _was_ under control. It was totally unusable though. Police and firefighters were all over the place.

"In a word, your dork brother and his friends." Pi replied. Lars slapped his forehead.

"That's six—" He shook his head. "Never mind! How did _they_ cause the half pipe to get torched!?" Pi told the hedgehog everything that happened, including the four furries' acquisition of the air skates. When he finished, Lars gaped at his friend.

"H-how the—Ugh! They _always_ get lucky!" He ranted, clenching both fists. "If it's not going on trips to exotic places or meeting freaking celebrities, it's getting cool gear! I want in on this! There's no way Rocket Dork's getting one up on me _this_ time!" He got in a thinking pose. A few seconds passed before he snickered evilly. The other three gave a grin.

"So what's the plan?" Pi asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Lars answered. "Go to the park and wait for me. I'll make sure we all get some of those air skates. We'll be the best street hockey team in town—no, the _world_!—once we get them!" He then delivered an evil laugh. His goons laughed in response before walking away.

When they were out of sight, the hedgehog skated up to the rail and grinded down it. When he reached the bottom, he skated around the area. Due to the destruction of the half pipe, no one was allowed to go into Mad Town. Lars put a hand to his chin as he thought about how to do this.

'_There's no way I'll be able to get those skates with all these cops around._' He shrugged. '_Guess I gotta wait until they leave._'

And so, he stayed around the area by the rental shop.

Close to forty-five minutes passed before the fire department and most of the police left. Only one officer was still around, asking questions. Lars didn't mind that one bit. If those skates can really make him go as fast as Pi said, he'll be able to get by the cop with no problem. He looked around himself to make sure nobody was looking. When he noticed that the coast was clear, he skated inside the shop. He took off his blades and took a look around.

"Now, if I was a pair of ultra cool, ultra fast air skates, where would I be?" He asked himself as he walked forward. He then noticed the door to the storeroom. It was ajar. The hedgehog smirked as he entered the room.

"Bingo." He said when he saw one of the shelves, which was lined with boxes of air skates. He searched the entire shelf until he found a pair that was his size. He grabbed it and took out the shoes. He gave a grimace when he noticed the design on them.

"Man. Whoever picked the colors really needs to go back to art school or something." He shrugged before he sat down and put on the skates. They felt kind of tight, but he could manage. He stood up gave the shoes a confused look.

"How do you work these things?" He reached into box and pulled out a small booklet. "Must be the instructions." He opened it and started reading.

At the Shack…

"Oh man, that was close." Reggie said as she slumped into a table. Her helmet was lying nearby. She had decided to come back after the police left. Otto, Twister, and Sam were nowhere to be found. "I thought we were done for."

"How did all that happen, little cuz?" Tito asked from the counter.

"Short answer: Sam tried to break the fourth wall and failed." The adults sweatdropped.

"And the long answer?" Ray asked.

"The skates' rockets set the half pipe on fire." Reggie answered.

"Actually, both explanations were the same length." Tito said thoughtfully. The others put a hand to their chins. A few seconds passed before they shrugged and nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, what happened to the others?" Noelani asked.

"I have no idea." The bat shrugged. "We got separated when we ran away." Ray walked over and hugged her.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" Reggie asked, giving him a curious look.

"I should've known that the skates wouldn't be able to go over wood without causing it to catch on fire. Please forgive me." The hedgehog replied, hugging her again. The bat patted his back.

"It's no prob, Dad. We're ok."

"That's good to know." Ray said, sighing with relief. He stayed in that same position. Reggie sweatdropped when she realized a few minutes had to have gone by.

"Uhhh Dad?"

"Yes, Rocket Girl?"

"Do you think you could let me go?"

"Oh! Sorry!" Ray said bashfully as he separated. He then walked into the backroom. He came back a few minutes later with a couple of boxes. "I'm just gonna go put these in the rental shop. Be right back." He walked out of the restaurant and down the ramp.

------------------------

"So these dials control the speed and the switches turn them on." Lars said. He put down the booklet and bent down. He flicked the switches and turned the dials a little. Both of his new skates hummed. He stood straight up. "Let's see how they move."

Remembering what he just read, he moved his legs as if he was on regular blades. He hovered about an inch over the floor as he moved slowly. It took Lars about a minute to get used to the sensation of floating before he moved around flawlessly. He gave a small grin before he stopped. He lowered back onto the ground.

"Cool, but they're way too slow." He reached down and turned the dials a couple of notches up.

Meanwhile, Ray just walked inside and put the boxes down by one of the shelves in the front area. He was about to leave when he noticed Lars' old skates. His eyes widened.

"What the—?" He stood up and looked at the storeroom door, which was fully open. "Who's there!?"

'_Uh-oh! Busted!_' Lars thought fearfully. He grabbed a random box off the shelf and stuffed it in his backpack. He heard footsteps approach the door. The hedgehog smirked as he put the backpack on.

'_Time to give these babies a road test!_'

Ray was about to enter the storeroom when suddenly, a purple blur shot out of the room, knocking him back a few feet. He landed on his stomach.

"Ugh… What hit me?" He grunted as he sat up. He whirled his head towards the entrance when he heard a cruel laugh. He blinked at the purple hedgehog before glaring at him.

"Lars!? What're you—" He gasped when he noticed the boy's new footwear. "Take off those skates!" Lars crossed his arms and snickered.

"You have GOT to be kidding! I'll be unstoppable with these! Rocket Dork won't come close to beating me now!" He gave the older hedgehog a salute. "Later! MUCH!!! Pahahahahahahaha!!!"

And with that, he skated up the ramp and past the Shack. Reggie blinked in surprise when she noticed him skating by, laughing.

"_Lars!?!_ What is _he_ doing on air skates!?" Ray came running up to the restaurant, panting. Reggie, Tito, and Noelani ran over to him.

"Are you alright!?" All three of them asked. Ray nodded before pointing at Lars, who by now left the pier.

"Lars…stole…a pair of…air skates." He answered between breaths. The trio gasped. Reggie shook a fist before she put her helmet on. She then bent down and adjusted her skates. They gave a loud hum. The others turned to her.

"Little cuz, what're you—" Tito started.

"Call the police and tell them what happened! _I'm_ going after him!" The bat interrupted. Before the adults can protest, she blasted out of the Shack.

Everything blurred around her and she found it hard to control herself. She bumped into a few garbage cans and just barely dodged some pedestrians before she finally got the hang of it. She grinned as she turned onto the street. The grin turned into a scowl when she remembered the task at hand. She moved her legs faster. She soon caught up to the hedgehog, who gave her a devilish smirk.

"Well, well! Look who decided to show up!" He yelled over the noise of the skates. Reggie glared at him.

"Stop and give back those skates!" Lars only laughed in response.

"No way! I'll rule every skate park in the world with these bad boys and no one's gonna stop me!"

"Oh yeah!? We'll see about that!" Reggie shot back.

"Hmph! If you think you can catch me, let's go!"

They both accelerated. To the passersby, they were just two blurs identical to the one they saw just a little while ago. The only difference was that they were a different color than the previous one.

As the two sped down the road, they rammed into each other. Due to Lars being bigger and stronger, Reggie was tossed back a bit whenever they made contact. Despite the disadvantage, she always came back to continue the fight.

'_Man! She just won't give up!_' The hedgehog thought with a grunt. He looked ahead and noticed a wooden plank that was leaning against a couple of garbage cans. It was the left side of the street. He smirked.

'_Let's see if she can handle my homing attack._'

He rammed the bat once more for good measure before skating up the plank. He jumped off and spun in the air. At the apex of his jump, he targeted Reggie and arched his back. A purple aura surrounded him as he spun into a ball and shot off towards her.

'_Where'd he go!?_' The bat thought, looking around.

"Yoo-hoo!" Reggie looked over her shoulders. Her eyes widened when she saw the incoming ball. She put on a smirk when she thought of a counterattack. Just before Lars made contact, she jumped up and delivered a swift kick, knocking him towards a light pole.

'_How dare she!?_' Lars thought with a growl. He unrolled and grabbed onto the pole.

He swung up it and let go, sending him towards Reggie. The bat jumped and flew up, getting ready to kick him again. Just as she expected, he rolled into a ball and made to do his homing attack again. When Lars was about a foot away, he surprised Reggie by unrolling and grabbing onto her leg! With a grunt, he swung her around and around. He made about ten rotations before he let her go, sending her towards the ground.

"Oh no you don't!" The bat shouted. She righted herself, spread out her wings, and landed firmly on the ground. Lars also landed and took off. Reggie gasped before continuing the chase.

They both skated along each other, ramming into their opponent. They were heading towards a tall building. The hedgehog smirked as he thought of a plan.

'_Let's see some mid-air action!_' He thought. They skated up to the building and went up the side of it. Lars got ahead of her.

"If this is too much, you better give up, little girl!" He yelled, looking down at her. Reggie smirked at him.

"Hey, didn't you notice the wings?!" She flicked a thumb at her wings. "I'm used to high altitudes!"

"We'll see about that!"

They both jumped from wall to wall, trying to knock the other down. Neither one refused to give up the fight! They both kicked, punched, and head-butted each other as they continued climbing. Lars soon bounced off a canopy and grabbed onto a flagpole. He swung around it, increasing his speed. Before Reggie was able to kick him, he let go and skated down the side of the building. The bat gave chase.

When Lars was a few feet away from the ground, he jumped off and flipped, slowing his descent a little. He landed and started skating again. Reggie landed and followed. Sirens were heard as a bunch of police cars sped along the combatants.

"Stop! Now!" Officer Shirley roared through a megaphone. She was in the lead car.

"Blow it out your ears, coppers!" Lars responded, avoiding a kick from the bat. He turned to her. "So, couldn't do it yourself, huh!?"

"Anything to catch you and get those skates off your feet!" Reggie shouted.

"I got news for you! I'm _never_ taking these babies off! Not for you and certainly not for them!" He flicked a thumb at a nearby police car. He grinned as he sped up alongside the one that had Shirley in it. Before the driver of that car knew it, the hedgehog jumped in front of it and skated backwards, laughing all the while.

"Ram him!!!" Shirley ordered. The driver gave her a nervous look.

"But—"

"DO IT!!!"

"Understood!" The officer jammed his foot on the accelerator. The car sped up, much to Lars' surprise.

"Woah!" He yelled as he increased his speed. He shut his eyes as he concentrated on avoiding becoming street pizza.

He got a foot or two ahead when he opened his eyes and smirked at them. He soon jumped away and landed on the left side of the car, facing forward again. He sped ahead. The engines of the police cars overheated, leaving Reggie and Lars to continue their fight. They crashed into each other as they blazed forward through traffic. The two jumped from car roof to car roof, punching or kicking one another. They soon passed the cars and got back on the street.

Lars saw another plank and skated up it. He jumped off, rolled into a ball, and used his momentum to shoot forward. He then grabbed onto a nearby pole and swung himself down to the street. His opponent caught up to him almost instantly. He backed away from Reggie, who was kicking rapidly.

"Give it up! You can't catch me!" He yelled just before head-butting her. She was pushed back a couple of feet. She dragged her feet along the ground, slowing herself down. She charged forward again.

"Never! Even if I have to follow you to the ends of the earth, I'll get those skates back!" She yelled, kicking at him. Lars dodged every attack before speeding the other way.

"Suit yourself!" He yelled back.

The battle continued past the traffic jam and the downed police cars. No matter how hard Reggie tried, she just couldn't catch him. But she wouldn't give up!

'_Man! What's her deal!?_' Lars thought. '_She won't give up for nothing!_' He grinned as he thought of a solution. '_Let's see if she can get me with the skates turned all the way up!_'

He skated up to a parked car and jumped on and off its roof. At the apex of his jump, he turned both dials up to "Supersonic." He landed and peeled out at an incredible speed. The road was literally on fire as he sped off towards the horizon. Reggie stopped and panted when she realized it was over.

"No… I can't believe I messed up like that!" She shook her fist and glared after the hedgehog. "Mark my words; I WILL get you, Lars!"

After she caught her breath, she took to the sky to try to find him.

Elsewhere…

Up in the sky, a star was seen twinkling. It soon disappeared and a small form was seen falling. The figure was revealed as Little Scottie! He screamed as he neared the ground. As he fell, he tried his hardest to fly, but the high speed was making it difficult to move his wings.

"Oh no! Please let me fly!" He shouted. His eyes were closed and his body was scrunched up as he concentrated on getting his tiny wings to work.

He was just ten feet from the street when he finally got his wings moving, though barely. He hovered along the ground clumsily before landing in a bush. He panted heavily, trying to get his bearings back. The bee soon caught his breath and flew out of the bush. He landed on the ground and started walking, looking crestfallen.

"I don't believe it… Nobody wants me around." He started, wiping his tear-filled eyes. "Not Cousin Clio, Cousin Lars, or even Cousin Twister…" He sniffled at the mention of his favorite cousin.

"And I wanted to show him my new instrument too…"

He stopped and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a small drum and a pair of drumsticks. He hung the drum from his neck and placed a drumstick in each hand. He sniffled again as he hovered over the ground, banging softly on his drum.

Thump, thump, thump.

That was the sound of Little Scottie's tear-filled solo. A few of said tears fell as he realized that that's all he'll ever be, a solo act; and in more ways than one. Nobody wanted anything to do with him. His cousins didn't want to spend any time with him. On the bus ride to Ocean Shores, Clio did her best to avoid conversation with the bee. Lars somehow disappeared when they arrived. Lastly, Twister was nowhere to be found, but Scottie was sure he was avoiding him as well.

Thump, thump, thump.

"If only I could find someone, _anyone_, who will want to be my friend…" He wiped his eyes, which were surely red and puffy right now.

He was practically alone in the world. He had no brothers or sisters, so he had no one to play with at home. He also had no friends that were his age. Nobody wanted him.

Thump, thump, thump.

He dropped the sticks, unable to continue on with his song. He touched down and buried his face in his hands. He bawled silently to himself. A good few minutes passed before he was able to recompose himself. He grabbed his drumsticks and hovered again.

Before he was able to resume playing, a snap was heard. He looked up and around himself. A chilling wind blew, causing the young bee to shiver, not just from cold, but from fright.

"Muahahahahaha!!!" A frightening laugh was heard. Scottie looked around with wide eyes. Someone or some_thing_ was watching him. He backed up a little, thinking that the shade of the tree he was floating by would provide him some cover. It only succeeded in making the situation worse. A cloud covered the sun, increasing the darkness.

"Muahahahaha!!!" The voice sounded closer. Scottie gulped and put on a look of bravery. His knees were shaking as he prepared to speak.

"I-I'm n-not afraid of y-you…" He said. "Sh-show yourself!"

The wind picked up, causing leaves to fall all around the tree. The bee then heard footsteps approach. They sounded louder with each passing second. He looked around frightfully, trying to find whoever was coming, but he couldn't see anything. Just leaves.

Before he knew what was happening, he was pushed into the tree! He tried to get free, but nothing worked! He was pinned to it! He tried to fly away, but he couldn't move! He struggled for a few seconds before he noticed the reason why he couldn't get free. A shuriken was stuck to the tree. The strap for his drum was caught in it. He was about to free himself when he heard the same creepy laugh. He gulped and looked ahead fearfully.

A tornado of dead leaves blew. Scottie gasped when he saw a figure appear in the vortex. As the leaves fell and the tornado ended, the sun came out, revealing the figure, which was dressed in a black cloak and hood, as well as a pair of gray gloves and a pair of brown boots. His body was also black. A curly tail was seen poking out from under the cloak. The bee almost screamed when he noticed that the figure had an extremely ugly face. It looked kind of like a zombie's, only there was a horn in the middle of it.

"Wh-who are you?" Scottie asked somewhat regretfully. He truly didn't want to know, but given his present situation, he figured he might as well try to talk to the zombie. The figure snickered evilly as he drew closer.

"Who am I?" He started when he was a few feet away. Scottie shuddered at the ice in his voice. "Everyone in Ocean Shores fears my name."

"I-I'm not from around h-here…" The bee said sheepishly. The figure sweatdropped and cleared his throat.

"Uhhh… Right! I knew that! I was just testing you! That's all!" Scottie too sweatdropped before the figure continued. "I am the grand master of fear. I am the embodiment of your worst nightmares. I am one with the shadows. Fear my ultimate ninja power, boy, for I am—"

"Eddie!!!" A new voice entered the conversation. It sounded Australian and very ticked off. The one in black quivered nervously; despite the fact his face didn't show any emotion.

"Y-yes?" He gulped as he turned around. Scottie noticed a change in the pitch of his voice. He no longer sounded scary, but afraid. The bee looked up and saw the reason for the figure's fright.

Standing before them was a crocodile. The scales on his body were brown. The scales going straight down his back were red. He was wearing a necklace that had a spearhead for a charm. He was also wearing a leather wrist guard on his right hand. Plus, he was wearing a turquoise bucket hat and a pair of sneakers. He was currently growling at Scottie's accomplice. His sharp teeth gleamed in the sunlight. His eyes were transfixed in an icy glare.

"What have I told you about scaring little kids?" He asked with a dangerous tone. The figure, or Eddie, as he was addressed, gulped again.

"Don't because it might scare away potential clients?"

"That's right…" The croc started. "SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING THROWING YOUR NINJA STARS AT DEFENSELESS KIDS!?!?!" Scottie and Eddie cringed and held their hands to the sides of their heads. "NOW LET HIM DOWN!!!"

"Y-yes. I was just about to do so." Eddie said, walking up to Scottie. He grabbed onto the shuriken and pulled it off with a grunt. The bee floated away from the tree. Eddie pulled back his mask and hood to reveal the face of a chameleon. He then bowed before Scottie.

"Please forgive me, young maker of honey. I was merely getting in some target practice. I meant you no harm."

"It's alright!" Scottie said happily, doing a flip in the air, which was kind of hard due to the drum. The crocodile walked up to them.

"G'day. The name's Trent." He said, shaking the bee's hand. Scottie gave a curious look when he noticed how big the croc's hand was compared to his own. It must've been at least ten times bigger! It's amazing that his hand didn't get crushed! He shook his head when he remembered that he still didn't introduce himself.

"Hi! I'm Scottie!" He yelled, buzzing around them.

"Energetic, isn't he?" Eddie whispered to Trent. The bigger reptile elbowed him. "What!?" Trent only growled in response before jerking his head in the direction of the bee. The chameleon again bowed before him.

"Greetings. I am Eddie, prince of the Netherworld and a ninja in training."

"Nice to meet you." Scottie said. He then tilted his head in confusion. "But I thought ninjas always wore those funny pajamas. Why are you wearing a cape?" Eddie popped a vein while Trent broke out laughing.

"Ya gotta admit, he's got a point, mate!" The croc yelled, rolling along the ground. Eddie shook his fist before glaring at the bee.

"You know, I can always stick you back on the tree." He threatened, taking out a ninja star from under his cape. Scottie sweatdropped and gulped before flying behind Trent for protection. The reptile in question glared at Eddie. The ninja groaned before putting the weapon away.

"I was joking!" He defended before pulling the mask over his face again. "As for your question, naïve one, I wear this cape to strike fear into my enemies. I refuse to wear the traditional wardrobe of my clan. It does not invoke fear in the hearts of my foes. Not to mention it's hot in those things!" The other two sweatdropped. It was then that Scottie got a closer look at Eddie. He noticed that there were some brown spots along his body, as well as some…chipping?

"Ummm… Did you paint yourself, Mister?"

"Errr… Why do you ask?" The chameleon asked nervously, pulling back the mask.

"Well, it's just that I noticed you have some brown spots here—" He pointed at Eddie's left arm. "—Here—" He pointed at his legs. "—And especially some here." He pointed at his face.

"Hang on!" Trent said, moving in for a closer look. He looked at the places Scottie pointed out. Indeed, each of the indicated areas _did_ have brown spots. He reached out and pulled a chip of black off Eddie's arm. He pulled back and chuckled.

"Well whaddya know, the kid's a first rate detective! I never would've noticed you painted yourself black, mate!" He laughed at the chameleon's embarrassment before he thought over what he just said. A light bulb appeared above his head.

"_Hello…_" He turned to the bee, who was dancing around at the compliment. "Hey kid, you wanna hang with us?" Scottie stopped dancing and gave the croc a shocked look.

"Wh-what did you s-say?" He stuttered.

"I wanted to know if you wanted to hang around with us. You see, me and Eddie here—" He pointed at the chameleon, who was currently busy with a paintbrush and a bucket of black paint. "—Are thinking about opening our very own detective agency and we need someone to take care of recon missions and fingerprinting. We're also looking for a third member for our band." He pointed at the bee's drum, which had fallen to the ground during his dancing.

"You'd be perfect! Whaddya say?"

Little Scottie was dumbstruck. A couple of bigger kids _wanted_ him to hang around with them! They weren't ignoring him, making up excuses, _or_ trying to get away! The little bee had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't some sort of dream.

"Ow!" He yelped, rubbing his arm. Nope. He was awake. He grinned at the crocodile, who had his hand out. "I'd love to!" He took the other's hand and shook it happily. Trent punched the air.

"Score! We finally have our third member, Eddie!"

"Huh?" The chameleon asked, looking up with a dripping paintbrush in his hand.

"We got our third member." The taller reptile flicked a thumb at Scottie, who was cheering and buzzing around with more energy than a kid on a sugar rush.

"I have friends! I have buddies to talk to, play games with, and share secrets!!!" He screamed happily. He made figure eights as he continued flying. Eddie gave his partner an apprehensive look.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, he's only a kid, and an annoying one at that."

"So he's got a lotta energy!" Trent shrugged. "He'll be a great help to us, you'll see!"

"Hmph." Eddie crossed his arms as they continued watching the little boy. "If you say so. You _are_ the leader, after all."

"That I am." Trent said, nodding. He then started walking. "C'mon kid! Let's go! We'll show ya the office!"

"Yes sir!" Scottie said with a giddy laugh. He landed near his drum and put it away in his backpack. He then followed his new friends.

And so, Team Sherlock, the weirdest bunch of detectives you've ever seen, was created.

"Question," Trent said to Eddie. "Why _do_ you paint yourself black for?" The chameleon glared at him.

"Duh! Have you ever heard of a brown ninja!?" The crocodile slapped his head.

God help us…

Meanwhile, at the Shack…

"Uncle Tito!" Keoni yelled urgently as he skated into the restaurant, followed by Clio, Mackenzie, and Cheese. "We need—Woah! What happened?!"

The trio went over to Ray, Tito, Noelani, and Officer Shirley, who were at a table. The yellow hedgehog had an ice pack on his head. Officer Shirley was standing with a notepad in her hand.

"A pair of air skates was stolen." Noelani replied.

"Actually, according to Ray's story, it was _two_ pairs that were stolen." Officer Shirley corrected.

"Who would do such a thing and hurt you?" Clio asked. Ray gave her a light scowl.

"_You_ should know." The female hedgehog blinked in confusion. "It was your cousin." She slapped her head when she understood who he was talking about.

"Lars. Figures it was _him_." She said with a groan.

"Lars? Isn't that Twister's brother?" Keoni asked.

"Duh! Even _I_ know that!" Mackenzie huffed.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed. The cat sweatdropped and held up his hands. It was clear that he didn't want to invoke the girl's wrath again. The adults blinked at them before turning to each other.

"Well, I believe I have all I need to file a report. I'll let you know if anything comes up." Officer Shirley said, excusing herself. Everybody was silent for a few moments.

"Man. Everybody's losing something today, huh?" Clio commented, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean?" Ray asked.

"Well, there's Lars stealing those skates, me being unable to find sweet, little Otto—" Everybody sweatdropped at that. "—Mackenzie losing her chao, and Keoni losing his frog."

"Huh!?" Tito said, turning to his nephew. "You lost Froggy, a rare, one-of-a-kind tailed frog!? How!?" Keoni chuckled nervously.

"Well yeah. That's kinda why we came here. Otto…"

Cut to a faraway view of the town.

"**WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!**" Ray bellowed, shattering every window near the Shack and scaring away all the seagulls better than Tice ever could. "**HE DID _WHAT_!?!?!?!**"

Back in the Shack, everybody gave the hedgehog a wide berth. His eyes were flaring as he took in sharp breaths. His fists were shaking dangerously at his sides. Keoni gulped as he nodded.

"He turned them all the way up." He then scowled. "And he took my frog!"

"And stole my chao!" Mackenzie added.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked.

"He also stole my heart." Clio said with a wistful sigh. Everybody gave her a weirded out look. She blinked and smiled. "Oh wait! He already did that!" Everybody else fell over.

"Ok…" Noelani said as she and everybody else got back up. "So why come here?"

"Well, we were thinking we could chase after him." Keoni answered, pointing at his teammates. "They need some air skates too."

"Oh sure! Why don't we just give them all away?!" Ray said sarcastically, throwing his hands in the air. "Everybody who's anybody just HAS to have them!" The others looked at him strangely.

'_That's strange. I thought he wanted to endorse them._' Noelani thought. She shrugged and turned to the kids.

"Forgive him. He's had a long day." She turned to her bigger cousin. "Tito, why don't you go help them get their skates?" She then proceeded to calm her husband, who was crying into his arms. Tito, Cheese, and the kids sweatdropped before they walked down the ramp to the rental shop.

They went inside and Tito walked into the storeroom. He found a pair of air skates that were Clio's size and handed it to her. He returned to the storeroom and searched for a pair that was Mackenzie's size.

While the rabbit waited, Keoni and Clio were outside. The cat was teaching the hedgehog how to use the skates. In the first few attempts, she crashed every time she tried to get started. After about twenty failed attempts, she finally got over the feeling of floating and was skating as if she was on normal blades.

Soon, Tito walked out of the storeroom with a box in his hands.

"Well?" Mackenzie asked impatiently. The cat shifted nervously.

"You see…" He gulped, fully knowing how unstable this girl's temper was. "I couldn't find a pair that was your size."

"What!?!" She roared, stomping towards him. Tito backed away.

"Wait! I have something else you could use!" He said nervously, holding the box out. Mackenzie snatched it and took a look. She pulled out two pairs of shoes.

They were red and had a white horizontal strip going down the middle. Like the air skates, the middle of the shoes' bottom was raised to contain metal plates. They also had a dial on each heel, as well as a switch.

The rabbit gave Tito a fiery glare.

"You have ten seconds, lame-o." Tito gulped as he scrambled to think of how to explain the shoes.

"Th-these are SOAP shoes." He started. "They work just like the air skates, except they increase the speed of your body depending on how the dial is set." He wiped his brow when he saw the girl put on the shoes.

She walked around in them to get a feel for them. She then flicked the switches, turned each dial a bit, and ran around the room. It was hard for Tito to follow her movements. She was just a streak of red lightning. She also flew around the room with Cheese cheering. When she was satisfied, she stopped and gave the cat, whose eyes were spinning, a glare.

"They stink on ice!" She shouted. "But I'll take 'em." Tito shook the dizziness out of his head and breathed a sigh of relief. They walked out of the rental shop. When the cat noticed that it was nearing sunset, he closed the shutters for the shop and locked them.

"So, you all set cuz?" Keoni asked the rabbit. Mackenzie sneered and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, I got my shoes." She answered grumpily.

"Ok guys, it's too late to start our search, so we'll get going tomorrow." Clio said. "Get plenty of sleep. We'll meet each other first thing tomorrow morning at Spray Beach, got it?"

"Got it, cuz." Keoni replied, giving her a thumbs-up.

"Yeah, yeah." Mackenzie grumbled.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese said happily.

The quartet disbanded to make preparations.

At the outskirts of town…

"Hey! I thought I told you dorks to wait for me at the park!" Lars shouted at his crew as he skated up to them. They were standing by the entrance to the Bruised Man's Curve mountain board course. The trio of goons shrugged.

"There were too many people around." Pi defended. The hedgehog rolled his eyes and reached into his backpack.

"Whatever! Thanks to Rocket Dork's dad, I was only able to get one extra pair of air skates." He pulled out the box he grabbed earlier. "Knock yourselves out." He tossed it towards them. Instantly, a fight broke out between the three for possession of the skates.

While Lars sat on a nearby rock and watched his gang fight and carry on like babies, Reggie was watching from a nearby tree. She growled when she realized that she was outnumbered.

"Just great!" She hissed to herself. "There's no way I'll be able to get those skates back without getting caught." She sighed and resided herself to watching the quartet.

Soon, the fight ended when Lars' goon squad discovered a very unfortunate detail. Sputz mumbled something, but all Lars was able to catch was, "doesn't fit." Animal snatched the skates and tried to put them on, but they just fell off his small feet. He sulked when he realized that he couldn't wear them. Finally, it was Pi's turn. The skates fit like a glove on his fat feet.

"Tchahahahaha!!! Well, I guess Pi gets the first pair!" Lars announced. The other two gang members voiced their protest. "Chill guys! Now that _two_ of us have air skates, we can get the other two pairs we need easily! There's no way Rocket Dork's sister or Officer Shirley can catch us!" He gave his trademark laugh, causing the others to join right along with him. Reggie shook a fist at him.

"Just you wait, Lars." She said icily.

She stood up and was about to swoop down to attack when the whirl of an engine was heard all around. Everybody looked around in confusion.

"What is that?!" Pi yelled over the noise. Reggie looked around some more before a shadow flew past her. She barely dodged it. It was then that she got a good look at the object.

It was gray, round, and had a single headlight in the front. A mirror much like those on a car was seen on each side of it. The bat gasped as memories of this morning's newscast entered her mind. She was about to warn Lars and his crew when a claw came out of the hovercraft's bottom and grabbed the hedgehog!

"What the—Let me go!" He shouted at the pilot of the craft, who only laughed in response.

"I think not, boy! I need you for my plans! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

And with that, the pilot flew off, Lars struggling to get free all the while. The hovercraft and the hedgehog soon disappeared over the horizon. They seemed to be going towards the desert outside of town. Pi turned to Sputz and Animal.

"We gotta save him!" He said before blinking. "Woah. Never thought I'd say _that_!" The other two only shook their heads in response.

"N-no way!!!" They both screamed before running off. Pi scowled after them before turning in the direction Lars disappeared. He activated the skates and turned the dials.

"It looks like it's up to me." He gulped before putting on a look of determination. "Here we go!" He sped off clumsily. Reggie sweatdropped as the boy crashed into everything in sight and eventually blazed after his leader. She got up and prepared to fly home.

"What a day! I'm outta here!" She jumped and ascended. She was about to start towards home when she stopped, feeling sorry for the hedgehog and the kid, who'll surely be killed. She muttered a curse before flying in the same direction Pi went.

"Aw man! What am I doing!? That was _Dr. Coconutman_ who took Lars! I can't take him on! He's got those robots!" She said worriedly. She thought about it for a few seconds before smirking.

"Then again… He probably has some kind of treasure in that base. Plus, I could get back the air skates for Dad." Her smirk turned into a grin.

"Here I come, Coconutman!"

------------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

Izzy gaped at me in disbelief.

"_Fighting?_ You think Lars and Reggie _fighting_ is the best thing a RP author can have them do!?!" I grinned as I nodded.

"Of course! It was pure genius if you ask me!" I answered cheerfully. "It's the perfect thing you can have two people who hate each other do! Having them do that is so much better than—Blech!—making them kiss!" I stuck out my tongue in disgust. Izzy fell over in exasperation.

"I swear… Smacking you with my mallet just couldn't do THIS one justice!" He screamed when he got up.

"Man Izzy…" I started pitifully. "Have you ever considered anger management?" He snarled at me for _that_ one.

"Don't tempt me, Boss. And you _still_ haven't said who's playing as Dr. Robotnik!" He yelled. I sighed tiredly.

"I already told you I revealed who he was."

"Some stupid painting on a door isn't gonna tell me who's playing as Ivo!" He countered.

"Well, his identity isn't going to be revealed until at least chapter five." I stated. Izzy groaned at that one. "But I _can_ give a clue as to who's playing as the good doctor."

"Well…?"

"Ok, here goes. Listen carefully." I began. "The one who's playing as Dr. Robotnik is no stranger to kidnapping. In fact, he captured the movers and shakers of Ocean Shores, controlled most of the citizens (and monkeys) with mind control helmets, built many dangerous robots, and nearly took over the town in order to make it into a polka resort! Of course, all this was in Otto's mind."

"Stop speaking in riddles and just say who he is!!!" Izzy demanded.

"Tch, tch, tch…" I shook a condoling finger. "Now Izzy, what kind of author would I be if I told you who was playing as Ivo? It's bad enough He-who-must-not-be-named's identity was already figured out. Let me have my moment of mystery."

"Hmph!" He grunted, turning away with his arms crossed (he seems to be doing that a lot, huh?). "Fine. Do whatever you want."

"Good." I said before turning to the camera. "Anyway, Lars has been kidnapped and Pi and Reggie went after him! Will they survive? Will Team Rodriguez find Otto, Froggy, and Chocola? What will happen to Little Scottie now that he has made a couple of friends? And what about Sam and Twister? Where were they in all of this? Find out next time!"

"It's about time we're done with this chapter." Izzy sighed. "Now I can enjoy some turkey."

"Oh by the way, what would the last percentage of RP fans consider the best thing to happen to Lars and Reggie?"

"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Remember the pre-chapter conversation?" I started. "The stats you made up only account for ninety-nine percent of all RP fans. What about the last percent?"

"Oh yeah!" Izzy said, nodding in understanding. "The last percent is for the Sam/Reggie fans. Their idea is just like the slash fans', except _Lars_ gets bashed instead."

::WHAM!::

"_I'm_ a Sam/Reggie fan, ya dunce!" I roared, putting down my fist. "I would _never_ bash my favorite character!"

"See? That's why I didn't want to say anything…" Izzy groaned dizzily before fainting. I turned to the camera and waved at it.

"Happy Thanksgiving, folks!"


	5. Call to Arms

Pre-chapter Conversation

"Hey Boss, I wanted to ask ya a favor." Izzy said.

"What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well… Since we're doing a RP parody of a Sonic game, I was wondering..." He started. "Could ya give me the form I had back in Dimension Hoppers 2?"

"You mean you want to be transformed into a hedgehog?" I asked with a smirk. "After all that complaining you've been doing the past few fics?" Izzy glared at me.

"Are ya gonna do it or not!?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"Fine, ya big baby." I snapped my fingers.

Instantly, Izzy glowed brightly, as if he was a pokémon that was evolving. Instead of getting bigger, however, he began to shrink, but only by a few inches. He was now as tall as Lars. Two spikes seemed to stick out from both sides of his head with one sticking out of the top of his head. The lone spike fell backwards as the light disappeared. He was now a purple hedgehog, much like Lars. His quills were styled like Shadow's, except there were black highlights in them. Like Otto, there was a circle of tanned skin on his chest. Finally, he was wearing white gloves, air skates, and a red vest.

"Alright! I've haven't been in this form in a loooong time!" Izzy said as he stretched his arms and legs, trying to get used to his new form.

"Speaking of your new form, why do you always go nuts whenever I make a Sonic reference, or _any_ reference, for that matter?" I asked. "You're like the freaking reference police or something!"

"I thought you'd _never_ ask!" My partner shouted, throwing his hands in the air. "Has it ever occurred to you that we're currently doing a fic that's in an entirely different dimension!?!"

"Yeah…" I nodded. "What's your point?" The hedgehog slapped his head.

"Duh! _Nobody_ that mainly reads RP fics is gonna know what you're talking about in regards to either the game _or_ the Sonic universe! You're confusing them!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." I started, shaking my head. "Izzy, Izzy, Izzy, there's a perfectly simple way to solve this so-called 'problem.'"

"Well…?" He asked, crossing his arms impatiently.

"Simple." I turned to the camera. "If I confused anyone with the references in this or any of my other fics, please send a review or E-mail me and I'll try to explain them to you. I want you to be able to understand every single solitary reference I make so that you can laugh at the jokes or nod your head at the analogies I might wind up making."

Izzy fell over.

"That wasn't exactly what I had in mind…" He mumbled as he got up.

"Oh well, too bad!" I replied before turning back to the camera. "Anyway, it's about time we stopped beating around the bush and get to business. For this chapter, we're _finally_ going to start commentary for the game!"

"Took long enough…" My partner remarked. I rolled my eyes.

"Like all great games, you always start off with a FMV, or Full Motion Video, that tells the story and gives you some insight into why the characters have to fight this great evil, and Sonic Heroes is no exception. This chapter will contain the intro movies for all four teams!

"Twister and Sam come across a mysterious letter that spells doom for the entire world. Reggie looks for Lars and Pi, only to discover that the worst has happened to one of them. While waiting for Keoni, Clio and Mackenzie have a nasty run-in with Mother Nature. Finally, the newly-formed Team Sherlock receives their first mission." I waved at the camera.

"Enjoy the comedy!"

-------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Four

Call to Arms

(A/N: This part is taking place earlier that day.)

"Oh man… That was close…" Sam panted. He and Twister had skated up the hill to the cul-de-sac after torching the half pipe at Mad Town.

"No kidding…" Twister replied. "We're gonna be in so much trouble." It was then that the echidna noticed his mailbox. Its flag was up.

"Hmmm… The mail arrived." He commented idly. The fox gave him a strange look.

"But the mail doesn't usually arrive til around three." He said, looking at his watch. "It's only two."

"Yeah, well, you got something too." Twister retorted, pointing at Sam's mailbox. Its flag was up as well.

"The mailman must be early for a change." Sam said with a shrug.

He walked over to his mailbox and opened it. He put on a curious look when he pulled out a piece of paper.

"It's probably an ad for that new Chinese restaurant on Sun Street…" He mumbled.

He read the sheet. His eyes widened when he finished.

"Twist! Take a look at this!"

Twister walked over with a questioning look on his face.

"Yeah? What's the matter?" He asked. Sam turned and practically shoved the paper in his face.

"Read!" He said before he proceeded to pace around frantically. The echidna sweatdropped before taking a look at the letter. When he finished reading, his expression turned to one of pure fright.

"Dude! I can't believe it!" He yelled in disbelief.

It was then that he ran to his mailbox. His family got the same letter too. He then proceeded to check the Stimipletons' and Otto and Reggie's mailboxes. Strangely, the Rockets got the same letter, but not the Stimpletons. It didn't matter to Twister, who was running around like a lunatic.

"This is the most horrible thing to happen since…EVER!!!" He screamed, holding his head. Sam ran up to him, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him.

"Twist, chill! We have to tell Otto!" Twister took a deep breath and turned to his friend.

"Ok, but why Otto?"

"Better that we tell him about this now before he finds out himself." Sam replied.

"Yeah. He'll go aggro when he hears about it." Twister agreed. "But how do we find him?"

"Simple." Sam answered, going into his garage. The echidna followed. The fox dug around a pile of junk that was sitting by the Twister.

"Come on… Where is it?" He said as he searched. "Aha! Here it is!"

He pulled out a device of some sort. It looked like a transmitter. It had an antenna on top. There was a screen in the middle and underneath _that_ were some buttons and knobs. Twister gave him a confused look.

"What's that do?"

"This is my locator. I programmed the energy signature of every resident in Ocean Shores into it." Sam answered as he turned it on. "We can use it to find Otto." Twister walked behind him and looked over his shoulder.

Displayed on the device's screen was a map of Ocean Shores. There were also several dots on it. Each was a different color.

"Let's see…" The fox mumbled as he turned the knobs and pushed a couple of buttons. He soon put on a weirded out expression. "That's weird."

"What?" Twister asked. Sam pointed at Ocean Shores' main street. Two purple dots were seen moving alongside each other very fast. They were also bumping into each other every so often.

"According to this, Reggie is with Lars and they're moving at an incredible speed."

"_Lars?_" Twister said with shock. "What's Reggie doing with _him_?"

"I don't know." Sam shrugged. "What _I'd_ like to know is how they're going so fast and why they're bumping into each other every few seconds."

"You don't think it's the air skates, do ya?" Sam held a hand to his chin.

"It could be. But that only explains Reggie. How did Lars get a pair?"

"Maybe he stole himself a pair." Twister said with a shrug.

"Do you think he would really go that low?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." The echidna replied, crossing his arms.

"So if he _did_ steal a pair, Reggie must be going after him to get them back." Sam said with finality. He continued looking at the locator. "Raymundo, Noelani, and Tito are at the Shack."

Twister saw three dots at the restaurant. They were yellow, brown, and purple.

"Duh!" Sam rolled his eyes at that before adjusting the transmitter a bit.

"Hmmmm… Keoni, Clio, and Mackenzie are together and moving towards the Shack." On the device, a purple dot was moving along the beach, followed by a red-violet and red dot. Twister gave him a confused look.

"Ok, I get Clio and Keoni, but _Mackenzie_!? What's _she_ doing with them?"

"She must be chasing after them." Sam said with a shrug before adjusting the locator again.

Now, three brown, yellow, and black dots were shown moving along the hill. The fox gave a weirded out look at the machine.

"Ok…"

"What?" Twister asked.

"According to this, Trent, Little Scottie, and Eddie are heading towards Eddie's house." Twister sweatdropped and tried to say something. Nothing came out, however. He shook his head.

"Freaky." He finally said. "So, where's Otto?"

Sam adjusted the locator again, but it didn't seem like he could get a fix on the hedgehog. He tried a few times, but nothing came up.

"I can't find him anywhere!" He said with a groan. "It's like he's not even in town anymore!"

"…What if he's not?" Twister spoke up. Sam gave him a questioning look before holding a hand to his chin.

"After we set the half pipe on fire, we split up to avoid getting caught…" His eyes widened. "We left Otto alone! Meaning…!"

"He turned them all the way up." Twister finished. They both groaned and slapped their heads.

"Figures." They both said. Sam got to adjusting the locator again.

"Let's see here… Increase the search area to a hundred miles… Found him!" Twister took a look. A lone red dot was speeding through the desert. It was bouncing all over the place. "Guess they _do_ allow you to skate at supersonic speeds after all."

"Yeah. One thing though. How do we catch up to him?" The echidna asked. The fox held his chin as he looked around the workshop. After about a minute or so of thinking, his eyes settled on the Twister. A grin appeared on his face.

"That's it! If we can get the Twister flying, we'll catch up to him with no problem!" He tossed off his skating gear. He then grabbed his tools and got to work on the biplane. Twister gaped at him.

"What?! But Squid, we'll _never_ get it fixed!"

"Not with that attitude we won't!" Sam retorted. "Now hand me that can of oil!" Twister sighed and shrugged before putting on a determined look.

"Yes sir!" He saluted. He grabbed the can off a nearby table and handed it to the fox. He then took off _his _skating gear. Together, they began the arduous task of fixing the Twister.

Later…

It was sunset and the Twister looked about done. Both the fox and echidna worked hard to repair it. Lots of screws, nuts, and bolts were used, as well as plenty of tools, including blow torches, screwdrivers, and wrenches, among others. They were able to find a suitable power source (the battery of Paula's car). They connected it to the plane with next to no trouble. The propulsion system was tough to configure, but Sam was able to do it. A couple of plush seats (also from Paula's car) were added to the cockpit for comfort. There were a couple of screw ups, but it wasn't anything the pair couldn't fix up. Right now, Sam was under the plane, putting on the finishing touches.

"And one last bolt… There!" He said as he crawled out from under the biplane. He and Twister were covered in oil and grease. They both shook hands and turned to the plane with satisfied looks. "I think it's finally done."

"I think you're right, Squid, but shouldn't we test it out or something?" Twister asked.

"Of course." Sam scoffed. "You didn't think I would _really_ try to fly it without seeing if it even works, right?"

"Well, who knows if Otto's even in the desert anymore?" The echidna said with a shrug.

"Good point." Sam held a hand to his chin as he grabbed the letter from earlier. "We're running out of time too. We better just skip the testing and hope it works." Twister gulped nervously and nodded. He turned to grab something when he looked at a mirror that was on the workbench. He cringed at his appearance.

"How about we get cleaned up first?" He suggested. Sam looked at his tails, which, like this morning, were covered with oil. He grimaced at the sight.

"Blech! Good idea."

---------------------

Sam and Twister were now spotless and ready to go find Otto. They were wearing their skating gear again.

"Ok! Let's go find Ottoman!" Twister cheered, jumping towards the plane.

"Hold it!" Sam yelled, causing Twister to stop in mid-air. He looked down and fell on the floor with a crash.

"Ugh… What now?" He groaned as he got up.

"If I know Otto like I _think_ I do, he's gonna want to fight." Sam said, moving towards the left wall, where a painting of a sad clown was posted. "And we have to be prepared."

With that, he pulled back the painting to reveal a red button. He then pushed it. To Twister's amazement, the shelf that contained the tools needed to fix the plane rotated to become a shelf full of different weapons.

"Woah…" He said with wide eyes.

"Let's see…" Sam murmured to himself.

He reached towards the top shelf, which had four pairs of attachments on them. They were small and metallic. They were curved. On the inside were all matters of circuitry. On the outside of each one was a lightning bolt symbol. They looked like they could be put on the forepart of a person's shoes. The fox grabbed a pair and attached them to the toe of his air skates. Twister shook his head and turned to his friend.

"What're those?" He asked pointing at Sam's feet.

"These attachments will electrify my feet, turning anything I kick into a ball of lightning." The fox replied. Twister gave him a confused look. Sam sighed. "Here. I'll show you."

He grabbed a nearby soccer ball and went outside, followed by the echidna. They walked into Sam's backyard. Sam bent down and pressed a button that was on the side of both attachments. He then targeted a nearby tree and tossed the ball into the air. He brought his right foot back and smacked it into the ball, causing electricity to crackle around it. The ball sailed towards the tree and crashed into it, burning it completely. Sam's robot came out of the house with a fire extinguisher and used it on the tree. Twister's mouth gaped at the result.

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmn!!! That was cool, Squid!" He shouted excitedly. Sam smirked and puffed out his chest before going back inside. Twister followed.

The kitsune walked up to the same wall he found the attachments for his feet and grabbed a bracelet that was on a lower shelf. It was silver and had a green jewel in the middle of it. There were three others like it. He slipped it on his right wrist and turned to Twister.

"This is my strength intensifier." He started. "I can lift up almost double my body weight while wearing it." Twister snickered.

"Then it must make you _really_ strong. Bust!" He fell to the floor laughing. Sam glared at him before smirking evilly.

He walked up to the echidna and grabbed him by the legs. Before Twister knew what was happening, the fox swung him around and around before tossing him out of the garage. Twister screamed as he flew through the air. He landed and skidded along the concrete. Sam dusted his hands off before walking to the shelf. He grabbed a brown satchel that was on another shelf. There was another one next to it. He hung it from his right arm.

As Twister walked back in, looking extremely ticked, the fox showed him a gold ring. He instantly forgot his rage as he gave Sam a questioning look.

"What's this thing?"

"Just a ring." Sam replied with a mischievous smirk. "Here." He handed it to the echidna, who grinned.

"Gee, thanks Squid!" He grabbed it.

::BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTPT!!!::

"Ahhhhhh!!!" Twister screamed as electricity flowed through his body.

"Hahahahahahaha!!! Bust!!!" Sam laughed. "These fake rings should help if I get separated from you and Otto."

When the ring ran out of juice, the charred echidna dropped it and glared icily at Sam. He brought back his fist and made the wind up. That was when the fox handed him a gold bracelet that had a red jewel on it. Twister flinched at the sight and covered his face. A few seconds of nothing happening passed before he lowered his arms and gave his friend another questioning look.

"So, what's this?" He asked, taking the bracelet.

"This is a flame ring. You can turn anything you hold into a fireball." Sam replied. "Also, your strength will increase." Twister grinned.

"Sweet!"

He put it on his right wrist and picked up a nearby screwdriver. He closed his hand and concentrated a bit. Almost instantly, fire surrounded the tool and melted it. He grinned and turned to Sam, who grabbed two final weapons off the shelf. They looked like the attachments he put on his feet earlier, except they were almost completely black. There was only one other pair.

"What's that?" The echidna asked.

"These magnets should be useful for our trip. Only Otto and one other person can use them though."

"Why?" Twister asked. Sam shrugged.

"Beats me."

"So if we got everything, let's get going!" Twister yelled, jumping into the front seat of the plane.

"Hey! _I_ sit in the front seat!" Sam shouted, flying up. The echidna quickly moved back before the fox landed. "Better fasten up." Twister gulped as they put on their seatbelts.

"Activating main power source!" The fox said as he pressed a button on the control panel. The Twister rumbled and shook with life. "Turning on the propeller!" He pressed another button, which made the plane sputter a bit. The propeller began spinning. Sam grabbed the throttle. He made the plane move out of the garage and onto the cul-de-sac.

"Sammy! Are you sure about this!?" Twister yelled over the noise. Sam looked back at him.

"No! But we don't have any other choice!" Twister gulped and leaned back, tightening his seat belt. The fox made the Twister turn towards the beginning of the hill.

"Activating rocket booster!" He announced as he pulled a lever. At the bottom of the plane, a rocket engine ignited. Sam looked back at his friend. "Here goes nothing! Blast off!" He pushed the throttle forward, making the Twister go forward. The plane peeled out towards the decline!

"Ahhhh!!! Pull up!" Twister panicked. Sam grunted as he tried to pull the throttle. The Twister's front wheels left the ground for about a second before touching back down. The echidna screamed in fright as the plane neared the decline.

"Pull up! Pull up! Pull—"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Both boys screamed as the Twister went down the decline…

And blasted into the air!

"AHHHHH!!! I'mgonnadie! I'mgonnadie! I'mgonnadie! I'mgonna—Huh?" Twister uncovered his eyes and looked over the side of the plane. Ocean Shores was going farther and farther away. The people below looked like ants. He grinned as the buildings and houses disappeared from view.

"We're flying!? YES!!! I'm not gonna die!" He cheered. Sam rolled his eyes before straightening the Twister out. It flew forward at a steady pace. He grabbed the locator and handed it to Twister.

"Here! Hold this and tell me when we're near Otto!" Twister gave him a thumbs-up and grabbed it.

"Hey! If Ottoman _is_ going supersonic, there's no way we can catch up with how fast the Twister's going!" He commented.

"Don't worry!" Sam said before smirking. "You haven't seen it in Turbo Mode yet!" Twister gulped.

"T-turbo Mode?!"

"Yep! Activating Turbo Mode!" Sam yelled. He pushed a button on the console.

Instantly, the propeller retracted inside the plane. The wings spilt in two and went into an X-like formation. Twister's eyes widened when he looked over the back of the plane. The engine was shaking. The flame that was coming out of it burned with more energy. He gulped before looking ahead. A few seconds passed before he and Sam felt themselves getting pushed far back into their seats. The sky around them blurred as the Twister blasted off towards the desert.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" They both screamed in total fright. The Twister disappeared into the background and became a star.

Meanwhile, back on the ground…

"Sam! You around here!?" Clio shouted as she walked into the garage. She was wearing a backpack. "Me, Keoni, and Mackenzie are going on a trip and we need—Woah!" She gasped when she saw the wall full of weapons. Her eyes gleamed with happiness.

"Eeeee!!! Jewelry!" She exclaimed, walking over to the shelf. Instantly, she grabbed a pair of the attachments with the lightning bolt symbol. She looked over it for a few seconds before grinning.

"These'll be perfect for Mackenzie!" She placed the attachments in her backpack and grabbed a strength intensifier. She tried to put it on, but it was too small. She pouted before putting on a smile.

"I guess she can have this too." She put it away as well and pulled out a flame ring. There was only one more left. She grimaced at the sight of it.

"Blech! I guess Keoni can have this one." She put it away and looked around. She considered taking the other pair of magnets that was present, but decided against it.

"Too tacky." She sighed. "I guess there's nothing for me." She shrugged. "Oh well." She then left to get ready for her journey tomorrow.

Meanwhile, at the desert…

Otto sped through a rock formation that was shaped like a loop. He then jumped and bounced off a couple of rocks before landing. He continued skating through the area at warp speed. A great dust trail followed him. It seemed that he mastered going at the speed of sound with next to no trouble at all.

"Oh yeah! Now _this_ is speed!" He cheered, going into an open valley. A few seconds passed before he heard the roar of an engine.

Up in the air, the Twister flew over the hedgehog. Twister looked down and grinned.

"Look! There he is!" He said. Sam looked down as well. He made the plane descend and fly alongside Otto. "Ottoman!" The hedgehog looked to his right and waved.

"Twist! Sam! What's up!?" He yelled over the engine. He blinked when he noticed what they were riding. "Dude! Is that the Twister!?"

"Yep!" Sam replied with a grin. "We finally got it running!"

"Cool! Now we can fly to all the hottest surf spots in the world!" Sam and Twister looked at each other nervously. "Hey! What's with the silence!?"

"Well, you see…!" Sam started. "We got a letter in the mail!"

"So?!" Otto asked. Twister produced the letter and reached over the side of the plane.

"Here! Take a look!" He said. Otto jumped, flipped, and grabbed the letter. He landed and skated backwards as he read it.

The letter said this:

_To all would-be heroes:_

_Muahahahahaha!!! Guess what?_

_I've developed the ultimate weapon! _

_In three days, I'll conquer the world! _

_Think **you** can stop me?! _

_Ahahahahahaha!!!_

_Sincerely,_

_Dr. Coconutman_

"Ok, I get that this is bad and all, but what's this got to do with anything!?" Otto asked.

"There's more on the back!" Sam said. The hedgehog blinked curiously before turning the paper over.

_P.S.: I'll also destroy each and _

_every single skate park in the world! _

_Muahahahahahaha!!!_

Otto felt his blood boiling after reading that last part.

"Oh HELL naw! There's no way he's gonna trash every skate park in the world! Not while _I'm_ alive!" He turned and started skating forward.

"So what do we do about this, Ottoman?!" Twister asked.

"What else?! We're gonna find him and stop him once and for all!"

"See!? I told you he would want to fight!" Sam yelled. Twister rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's right! All three of us are gonna crack him wide open!" Otto announced. "So let's this thing started!"

"Right!" His teammates shouted. Sam set the Twister on auto-pilot and plotted a course for home. He and the echidna then jumped off and skated after the hedgehog.

And so, Team Rocket was all set for adventure.

Elsewhere, later that night…

Reggie dived head first down a shaft inside Dr. Coconutman's desert base. As she neared the floor, she flipped and spread out her wings, slowing her descent. She landed on her feet and quickly jumped towards a huge door that was bearing the mad doctor's insignia, a face that was wearing a hat and glasses. There was a password-activated lock on it.

'_Whew! So far so good!_' The bat thought, wiping sweat from her head. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. '_I hope this password I got from that guard bot works!_'

She took a look around before turning back to the lock. She pressed some of the keys while glancing at the paper. When she was finished, she pressed the Enter key. Doing soon caused the door to open with a whoosh sound. She grinned as she walked inside.

"This must be it!" She shouted excitedly. "I've found Coconutman's treasure! After I help myself, I'll deal with finding Lars and Pi. I wonder why he took Lars in the first place." She shrugged before walking towards a capsule in the middle of the room. It was full of a green liquid. There seemed to be something inside, but she couldn't tell what. There was a console at the base of it.

"Now to open this thing." She started typing on the console. "Once I figure out how."

Unbeknownst to Reggie, a pair of red lights activated in the shadows of the room. They seemed to belong to a robot. It was human-size. Its body was mostly black and blue. Its hands looked like claws. Its wrists were yellow and had what seemed to be diamonds embedded all around them. They seemed to be bigger than its hands. The lights made up its head. They were covered with a yellow canopy. It had a pair of rockets in its back. On its left shoulder was a certain math symbol…

The robot stomped forward with its fat, flat feet. It seemed to be scanning Reggie and the contents of the capsule.

Meanwhile, Reggie made the liquid drain out of the capsule, revealing a certain hedgehog. She gasped and made the capsule open.

The robot's hands disappeared into its wrists and were replaced by machine guns.

The hedgehog opened his eyes with a glare after hearing the robot's maneuver. He looked to his right.

To Reggie's surprise, the hedgehog dove towards her and pushed her out the way of a barrage of bullets. The robot was blasting the entire room!

"Stay here!" The hedgehog said, jumping away from a spray of bullets.

"Lars!?" The bat said with shock.

The robot focused its fire on Lars, who was dodging its attacks effortlessly.

"_Must eliminate all!_" The robot droned as it continued firing.

"Huh?!" Reggie said, facing the automaton. That voice sounded familiar to her. But it couldn't be _him_! …Could it? Her eyes widened when she saw the symbol.

Lars dodged a stream of bullets as he jumped from wall to wall. Fires blazed all around him. He let the robot's bullets come close before he jumped towards it. The robot stopped firing and charged forward as well. They both held out a fist, getting ready to punch the other. They were mere seconds away from each other.

"Woah! Hold it!" Reggie yelled, getting in between the fighting duo. She pushed them away from each other. She bent over as she panted.

"Hey! What's the deal!? I was about to destroy this dork!" Lars protested, crossing his arms.

"_And I was about to eradicate this life form._" The robot agreed. The hedgehog's eyes widened as he turned to it.

"_Pi!?_ Is that you!?" He gasped as he saw the final shred of evidence; the symbol on its shoulder; the symbol for Pi. The robot nodded.

"_I am C-3.14. Codename: Pi._" He then looked at the hedgehog closely. "_Scanning… Searching human memory banks… Entry found… Lars Rodriguez: Hedgehog. Age: Fourteen. Relation to former self: Boss._" He then faced Reggie.

"_Scanning… Searching human memory banks… Entry found… Reggie Rocket: Bat. Age: Twelve. Relation to former self: None. She's a dork._" Reggie crossed her arms and glowered at the robot.

"What the hell happened to you!?" Lars yelled.

"_Searching database…_" Pi started, turning to him. "_Retrieving human memory… Entry found… Initiating flashback…_" Lars and Reggie sweatdropped as the screen underwent a ripple effect.

::::Flashback::::

_By some miracle of God, Pi (who at the moment was a human) got into the base undetected. He got into the air ducts and crawled his way through. After going around a few twists and turns, and falling twenty or so feet underneath the earth's surface, he came across a room, where he heard grunting and cursing._

_"Ugh! Let me outta here, ya shoobie!" Lars' voice yelled. Pi crawled towards a hole in the duct and looked into the room. He gasped when he saw the hedgehog being placed inside a capsule by a couple of what seemed to be robots. They were red and had round, pudgy bodies. A shadowy figure was watching, laughing at Lars' attempts to get free._

_"I don't think so." The figure replied. Pi's eyes widened when he recognized the voice. "You're too important to my plans."_

_"What?! Why?! Besides pranking you, what'd I ever do?!" Lars demanded._

_"Tell me, have you ever experienced a strange sensation because of your brother's emerald?" The figure asked, ignoring his question. "Did you ever find yourself in another place? Did time ever freeze around you?" Lars' eyes widened._

_"E-every day…"_

_"Excellent." The figure said gleefully. "Also, have you ever wondered why your family is a bunch of echidnas?"_

_"Because of the author's casting, duh!" The figure fell over._

_"Besides that!" He roared before clearing his throat. "You were adopted by them."_

_"No way!" Lars protested in disbelief._

_"Oh yes. You are the Ultimate Life Form, the military's top secret weapon."_

_"Which one?"_

_"It doesn't matter which one!"_

_"Can it be Britain's? I've always wanted to go see Big Ben." The figure slapped his head._

_"Ugh… Fine. It was Britain's."_

_"Wait! I changed my mind! Can it be Japan's or maybe Mexico's?" Lars suggested. The figure fell over again._

_"It was **this** one's, alright?! Can I get back to your origin and your secret power!?"_

_"Oh. Sorry."_

_"It's alright." The figure said, clearing his throat. "Like I said, you are the military's top secret weapon. Somehow, you got free and lost your memory. You were in a coma when a family of echidnas found you outside Ocean Shores. You've been raised like you were one of them ever since."_

_"Woah… So I was adopted…" Lars said thoughtfully. "Now what's this about a secret power?"_

_"Ah yes. You were created with the ability to bend time and space." The figure started. "If you have one of the seven Chaos Emeralds, or in your case, the Master Emerald, you can freeze time and teleport wherever you want. This technique is called 'Chaos Control.'"_

_"Chaos Control…" The hedgehog repeated. He glared at his captor. "But why kidnap me!?"_

_"Didn't you just hear me!? I want your power!" The figure replied. "Once I copy your life data, I, Dr. Coconutman, will be one step closer to ruling the world!" The figure threw his head back and delivered a loud, long, evil laugh… At least until he gasped for air._

_"My medicine!" He sputtered as he reached for a bottle of pills. Lars sweatdropped as he swallowed a couple of pills. The figure sighed with relief._

_"Ahhh… That's better." He said before turning back to the hedgehog. "Now then, I believe our time is up. When you next awaken, your life data will have been copied! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!" He turned around._

_"Hey wait!" Lars shouted, trying to get free. His bonds were just too strong. "Ugh! I have more questions!"_

_He kept trying to get free for a few more seconds before the capsule closed and filled up with a green liquid. It soon filled up completely. The hedgehog was knocked out when he was shocked with electricity._

_"Oh man… I gotta help him. …But how?" Pi whispered to himself. _

_Before he could move to find help, the duct collapsed under his weight!_

_"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" He screamed as he fell. He landed in the room with a thud. Dr. Coconutman turned around and glared at the boy._

_"An intruder! Robots, grab him!" He ordered. The robots that captured Lars grabbed both of Pi's arms, preventing him from escaping. _

_"Hey! Let me go!" He yelled, struggling to get free._

_"Now, what do I do with him?" Coconutman said, stroking his chin. The doctor thought for a moment before snapping his fingers._

_"I could always use an extra robot slave… Take him to the roboticizer!" The evil doctor laughed as Pi tried to resist. It was pointless though. The robots dragged him out of the chamber._

::::End Flashback::::

"_And that's what happened._" Pi finished.

"So Coconutman turned you into a robot, huh?" Lars said. He turned to Reggie. "And what're _you_ doing here?" The bat glared at him.

"I _wanted_ to get back the air skates _you_ stole!" She shouted before sighing. "But I guess after finding out something like you were created in a military base, you might as well keep them."

"Good, 'cause I wasn't planning on giving 'em back! Tchahahahahaha!!!" Reggie glared at the laughing hedgehog. Meanwhile, Pi shook his fist angrily.

"_I want revenge on Coconutman._" He said monotonously. "_He stripped me of my life and left me here to guard you._"

"So go after him." Lars said, waving a dismissive hand. "It's no skin off my nose."

"But he'll be outnumbered!" Reggie said worriedly. The hedgehog gave her a strange look.

"You wanna go with him? Be my guest. Now that I know what was causing me to disappear and everything, all I gotta do is grab that emerald of Twister's and have some _real_ fun." He snickered.

"What makes you think you can get it when _I_ couldn't?" The bat challenged. Lars smirked at her.

"Because unlike you, I can just force him to hand it over. Otherwise, I'll whomp him beyond belief." He punched his hand to prove his point.

"But don't you wanna know anything about your past?"

"Now why would I want to know _that_? I could care less about my past!"

"But…" Reggie smirked evilly when she thought of a way to get Lars to join her and Pi. "Oh well. I guess you won't get the credit for beating Coconutman." Lars gave her a cautious look.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Oh nothing, except I heard that Otto, Twist, and Sam are on their way to fight him." She lied. "It's too bad that you don't wanna come. We could probably beat him with no problem and you could get all the perks of being a hero." Lars' eyes shifted in thought after hearing that. He considered his options.

On the one hand, he could now use Chaos Control to completely prank the town. Then again, he wanted to know for sure if he really _was_ a test tube baby created as a weapon for the military. He growled when he made his decision.

"Fine. I'll come along. That Coconut-dork better have some answers for me. And if Rocket Dork and his crew get in my way, they're going down!" He blinked after saying that. He turned to Reggie.

"Hang on! _You're_ one of them too! How do I know you won't turn on me!?" Pi readied one of his guns and pointed it at her. The bat gulped as she thought of something to save herself.

"W-well…" She blinked and put on a look of bravado. "If we _do_ come across them, they'll get the biggest whomping ever for trying to leave me out of this! I won't turn on you! Count on it!" Lars scowled at her for a few seconds before turning away. Reggie sighed with relief as the robot put down his gun.

"Good. I'll get my answers, Pi'll get his revenge, and you'll get whatever the hell it is you want." He said before putting his hand between them. Pi put one of his claws over the hedgehog's hand, and Reggie put her hand over the claw. "Alright! We're a team!" They separated and looked around.

"One question though." Reggie started. "Who's Coconutman? I mean, you guys must've seen him, right?" The others turned to her and nodded.

"Oh we saw him alright!" Lars answered. "I can't believe _he's_ the one behind all those attacks!"

"_He must be destroyed!_" Pi added.

"Well…?" The bat asked impatiently, tapping her foot.

"Oh, right." Lars started. "Coconutman is…"

Cut to a view of the desert.

"WHAT!?!" Reggie exclaimed in disbelief. "_HIM!?!_ NO WAY!!!"

Back inside, the bat gave the hedgehog a look of extreme incredulousness.

"Yeah right! There's no way _he's_ Dr. Coconutman!" Lars crossed his arms in response.

"Think whatever you want! I know who I saw!" He then turned to the robot. "So how do we get out of here?"

"_Searching for map of interior…_" Pi said. He and the hedgehog walked around the room, trying to find some clues.

A few minutes passed when…

"Alright! It's my lucky day!" Reggie shouted in excitement. Lars walked over to her and took a look. The bat was holding a purple jewel in her hand. It was the same shape as the Master Emerald, but much smaller. It was glowing, illuminating the room slightly.

"I knew Coconutman had a treasure! And it's mine, all mine!" She hugged the jewel and rubbed her face against it. Lars sweatdropped. He then gave the jewel a curious look. He felt a strange aura coming from it.

"Something about that thing… It's weird…" He shook his head and turned to the robot. "Hey Pi! Get over here and take a look at the diamond Rocket Dork's sister has!" Pi stood at attention and marched towards the pair. Reggie turned to her new teammates and held up the jewel.

"_Searching database… Entry found… Chaos Emerald. One of seven. Legend says that when all seven are brought together, a great miracle will occur._" The robot explained.

"_That's_ one of the Chaos Emeralds?" Lars said, snatching the jewel. "Score! Now I can practice Chaos Control wherever I want instead of using my dork brother's emerald!" Reggie cried animé tears.

"But that's mine…"

"Well too bad! It's mine now! Tchahahahahahahaha!!!" Reggie glared at him.

"Whatever! Let's get out of here already!"

"Edgy, aren't we?" Lars remarked with a smirk. "Fine. Pi! Where's Coconutman at?"

"_Searching database…_" Pi started.

"You know, I like this new and improved Pi." The hedgehog said with a nod.

"Yeah. At least he sounds smarter." The bat agreed. The robot made an eye face them.

"_I heard that._" His eye returned to its normal position. "_Entry found… Dr. Coconutman's current location is in the coastal area outside Ocean Shores._"

"So let's go!" Lars said.

"Hold it! We should go to Sam's garage first." Reggie interjected. "He probably has some stuff we can use while we're out there." Lars growled before nodding.

"Whatever. Time to use my new technique! Get close to me." Pi and Reggie got behind him. Each of them placed a hand on a shoulder. The hedgehog closed his eyes in concentration. He focused on the cul-de-sac where he and the bat live. When he got a clear view of the place in his mind, he squeezed the Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos Control!" He yelled, opening his eyes. Instantly, the emerald glowed brightly. The trio disappeared in a flash of purple light.

---------------------

It was dark as a flash of light appeared in the middle of the cul-de-sac. When it disappeared, Lars, Pi, and Reggie were revealed standing. The trio walked into Sam's garage. The bat put on a questioning look.

"That's strange. It looks like everything was just used. But Sam would never leave everything out like this." She also gave a curious look at the Twister, which was still in Turbo Mode. "And what happened to _that_?"

"Forget about it! Let's just get those weapons and get outta here!" Lars ordered. Reggie huffed before walking over to the shelf that had Sam's weapons on it.

She grabbed the electric attachments and put them on the toe of her air skates. Next, she grabbed a strength intensifier and slipped it on her right wrist. She also took the remaining bag of fake rings and put it on over her right arm. She then grabbed the magnets.

"Here. You can use these." She said, handing the attachments to Lars. He gave her a confused look. She sighed. "Just put them on the front part of your skates."

"Uhhh… Right." The hedgehog replied, doing as he was told. The bat walked away from the shelf.

"_What about me?_" Pi asked.

"Sorry." Reggie shrugged at him. "There's nothing here that you can use. Besides, I'm sure you have plenty of weapons." She turned to Lars. "Anyway, it's kinda late. We should get going tomorrow."

"Alright. See ya in the morning then." Lars grunted, moving towards his house. Reggie walked towards her house as well.

"_Wait. Where will I stay?_" Pi asked. Reggie and Lars ran back to him and looked at each other.

"He's got a point, you know. He can't go back to his family looking like that." She said.

"Yeah. So where do we put him til morning?" Lars asked.

"Better leave him here. I doubt Sam's mom will come in here."

"Well, there ya go! See ya later." Lars said to his metal crony. "Be ready in the morning." He walked away again.

"Good night, Pi." Reggie yawned, walking towards her house. She blinked and turned to the camera. "Woah… Never thought I'd say _that_."

"_Good night._" The robot replied, walking towards a corner of the garage. He sat down and turned off his optic receptors. "_Initiating Sleep Mode…_" And he deactivated.

Thus, Team Lars was all set to cause trouble and mayhem!

The next day, at Spray Beach…

The sun was shining down on a dock at the beach outside Ocean Shores. It was a windy day. At the end of the dock was a table that was under a straw umbrella. Sitting at the table was Clio, who was looking at a newspaper clipping. Mackenzie and Cheese were lounging on top of the umbrella. The former was wearing the weapons Clio grabbed from Sam's garage. They were both lying on a towel.

"Man, what's keeping that dork?" The rabbit muttered.

"Chao, chao." Cheese added.

Down below, Clio sighed lovingly as she stared at the newspaper clipping.

"I wonder where Otto is…"

Pictured on the clipping was a back shot of the hedgehog skating. Behind him were Froggy and Chocola, who were hanging on for dear life. It seemed that someone took a photograph of the encounter from yesterday and sent it in to the local newspaper. Needless to say, when Clio saw her beloved's picture on the front page of the Ocean Shores Gazette the next day, she snatched up a copy immediately.

Suddenly, a hard gust blew, causing the clipping to get blown away!

"Oh no!" Clio yelled as she tried to get it back. The picture flew high into the air, over the water. Before it got too far, Mackenzie flapped her ears and flew after it. She reached out for it, but couldn't grab it. Cheese made the save when it grabbed the clipping.

"Chao, chao!" It cheered, waving the paper. They flew back to the dock.

"Whew…" Clio sighed, wiping her head. She got out of her chair and walked up to the rabbit, who was glaring at her.

"Watch it with our only clue, ya lame-o!" She yelled, snatching the paper out of Cheese's grip.

"Sorry about that." Clio said with a nervous chuckle.

Just then, the wind picked up again, blowing Mackenzie. She grabbed onto the dock in an attempt to resist, but the wind was just too strong!

"Woooooooaaaaaaaaaah!!!" She screamed as she got blown upwards over the water.

Almost immediately, a rope flew up and wrapped around her body. She stopped screaming when she noticed that it was a fishing line that saved her. She was reeled back to the pier by Keoni, who had showed up. The cat jerked his fishing rod, tossing the rabbit up. He then opened the umbrella that seemed to be part of the rod. Mackenzie bounced off it and landed safely.

"Nice catch, Keoni!" Clio exclaimed.

"Heh. No prob, cuz." Keoni chuckled, giving her a thumbs-up as he took off his helmet. The other girl dusted herself off and glared at the boy.

"It's about time you got here! You're late!" Keoni rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. I woulda gotten here sooner, but Uncle Tito wouldn't let me leave until I took his lucky fishing rod." He said, holding up the rod. "It also doubles as a handy umbrella." He then put it on his back with the strap that came with the rod.

"It's alright. All that matters is that you got here!" Clio said happily. She then gave him a sidelong glance. "Although, I _did_ think that you weren't gonna show."

"Not a chance! I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Keoni replied. "Besides, I gotta get Froggy back. I miss him." His ears drooped.

"Chao…" Cheese squeaked sadly, thinking about its brother. Mackenzie crossed her arms.

"I kinda miss that little thing's squawking too." Her teammates gave her a sly smirk. "I said 'kinda!' I could care less about it!"

"Suuuuuuuuuure ya do." Keoni said slyly. He and Clio snickered. The rabbit glared at them and stomped her feet.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT STUPID CHAO!!!" She roared, causing the others to hold their ears.

"Alright, alright!!!" The hedgehog and cat yelled.

"Chao, chao, chao!!!" Cheese agreed. It had a dizzy expression on its face.

"Well anyway, don't worry! We'll find them _and_ Otto!" Clio encouraged when she got her hearing back. "Let's get going!"

And with that, she, Mackenzie, and Cheese skated/flew, nearing knocking Keoni into the water. The cat put his helmet back on when he got his balance back. He was about to follow when he noticed something shimmering on the ground in front of him. It was the flame ring from Sam's place.

"Hmmmm… Clio musta dropped it…"

He put it on his right wrist and skated after the others.

Later that afternoon, at Ocean Shores…

It was another lazy day in the office of the Team Sherlock Detective Agency, which was in Eddie's living room. Trent was sitting at the desk, playing solitaire on Eddie's dad's computer. His head was propped up on one of his huge hands. He had a look of pure boredom. Eddie was standing by the closet with his arms crossed and eyes closed. Of course, you couldn't tell whether or not his eyes were closed due to his mask. He was wearing a fresh coat of black paint. The tip of his yellow horn gleamed in the sunlight, which was pouring in from the nearby windows.

A few minutes passed before a low buzzing was heard. The chameleon lifted his head and turned towards the front door. Little Scottie busted inside, carrying a heavy-looking package. It looked to be at least double his size.

"It's here! It's here!" He grunted excitedly. He flew towards Trent, who looked up in surprise.

"Woah!" The croc yelled. Scottie tried to stop, but it was too late. He crashed into the older boy, causing the package to fly into the air. Before it could land, Eddie pulled out a shuriken and tossed it at the box. It connected, pinning the package to the wall.

"What the heck's your problem, mate?!" Trent demanded. He and the bee were on the floor.

"It's here! It's here! We got work!" Scottie cheered, ignoring the question. He flapped his wings and flew around the room. The reptile's eyes lit up at his answer.

"For real!?"

The package opened, causing a walkie talkie, two pairs of air skates, and a pair of SOAP shoes to fall out. The walkie talkie bounced off the shoes and landed in Trent's hand.

"_Greetings!_" A voice said over the radio. It sounded almost elderly, as well as ragged. "_I have heard good things about you! I require your detective services._" Eddie pulled up his mask and gave the device an odd look.

'_"Heard great things?" We just opened the place!_' He thought.

"What do you need us to do?" Trent asked, getting down to business.

"_I need you to follow the mad scientist, Dr. Coconutman._" The mysterious voice answered. The trio gave each other a somewhat frightened expression.

"Did you say 'Coconutman,' mate?" The leader asked incredulously.

"That bad man that's been on the news!?" Scottie added.

"_Yes, the very same._" The voice replied. "_As an added incentive, enclosed with this radio are two pairs of air skates and a pair of SOAP shoes. They should be able to help you get through Coconutman's legion of robots._"

"Now hold on! What makes you think we'll risk our necks to follow the most wanted man in the world?!" Eddie spoke up.

"_I can pay handsomely._" was the simple response. Trent and Little Scottie got dollar signs in their eyes after hearing that.

"Alright! We'll take the case!" The crocodile said happily.

"_Excellent. Go to the beach area outside Ocean Shores. That's where you'll find some of Coconutman's robots. Good luck._" The radio clicked off.

"Something is amiss here." Eddie said, pulling down his mask.

"Chill Eddie! You know my rule! We never turn down a job that pays good money." Trent said.

"Yeah! We never turn down a job!" Scottie repeated.

"Besides, it's our first case! We gotta take it, no matter how dangerous it is." The crocodile walked towards the three shoes. "Now let's see what these air skates are about."

And so, the trio tried on the shoes. Trent and Eddie had the air skates while Scottie got the SOAP shoes. The leader then found the instructions and read them to the others. Long story short, they mastered traveling at high speeds with the shoes in a decent amount of time.

"Ok! We got acquainted with our gear, so let's get going!" Trent announced as they exited Eddie's house.

"Hang on!" Eddie started in his creepy tone. "We should go to the home of the Cephalopod first." The bigger reptile and the bee gave him a confused look.

"Huh!?" The chameleon pulled up his mask and gave them a glare.

"We should go to Sam Dullard's house. He's got some inventions that may prove useful to us."

"Good idea." Trent said, rubbing his snout. "To Sam's house!" He started skating towards the fox's home.

"Yes sir!" Scottie cheered as he flew after the older guy. Eddie looked up at the sky.

"I still have a bad feeling about this." He shook his head and skated after them.

Moments later, they arrived at Sam's garage. They sweatdropped at the appearance of the place. Everything was thrown about.

"Messy, huh?" Eddie said. Trent pulled off his helmet and hat and scratched his head.

"Well, you know what they say. All great geniuses are messy." The chameleon gave him a strange look.

"Who says that?" Trent huffed.

"Never mind! Let's just grab what we need and get outta here!"

They grabbed the remaining weapons off the shelf. Scottie got the lightning attachments and the strength intensifier, Trent got the flame ring, and Eddie…got nothing.

"Huh?! Why?!" The one in the cloak asked, looking up.

(Me: So much for not talking to characters during the story… Anyway, you already got what you need.)

"Ohhh…"

Once they finished, they skated/flew out of town to start their big case.

-------------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

"It looks like everybody's all set for their big adventure!" I started. "Will our heroes survive the battles that lie ahead? Tune in next time!"

"Hey! What's with everybody getting those weird weapons!?" Izzy demanded. "Ya practically turned this into the Sonic Adventure games!"

"Look who's talking about me confusing people…" I said, giving him a side glance. "Anyway, how else are they supposed to use the moves the real characters use in Sonic Heroes?" The hedgehog sweatdropped at that.

"Errr…"

"Never mind." I rolled my eyes. "And another thing, when I gave my solution to that whole confusion issue, what _did_ you have in mind?"

"Let's see…" I started, holding his chin. He then snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! I was thinking that you should just get rid of the references all together."

I gave him a death glare and pulled out my mallet. Izzy's eyes widened as he backed up slowly.

"Should I start running now?" He asked with a gulp.

"That seems to be the logical choice." I answered, advancing towards him.

"See ya!" He yelled before skating away.

"Grrr…" I growled, gritting my teeth. I then turned to the camera. "See ya next week, folks!" I dashed after Izzy. "Get back here, you swine!"


	6. Team Rocket’s Day at the Beach, Pt 1

Pre-chapter Conversation

"Heh. I loved that last review you sent me, Warior." I said, holding a piece of paper in my hands. "I always thought oil was a robot's blood, but eh. It was pretty funny." I shrugged before putting the paper in my pocket. "Anyway, I've been thinking."

"Oh no…" Izzy groaned. "What is it now?" I rolled my eyes at the hedgehog.

"This is my tenth RP fic." I answered. My partner scowled at me.

"Yeah. And…?!"

"I was thinking I should do something special to commemorate this momentous occasion."

"Here's an idea. How about we leave this dimension at long last?"

::WHAM!::

Izzy stumbled around while nursing his latest lump.

"It was just a suggestion…"

"Yeah well, it was a stupid one." I retorted, hanging my mallet over my shoulder. "Anyway, I still think I should do something special to celebrate. Something that no one has ever done!"

"What, invent another stupid slash coupling?" Izzy asked, rubbing his head. I got into a thinking pose.

"Hmmmm… That's not a bad idea." The hedgehog fell over. "But I think I'll save that for if I ever reach twenty fics."

"RP or overall?" My partner growled, getting up.

"Hmmmm…" I held my chin. "I'm three fics away from my twentieth overall, but ten away from my twentieth RP fic…" I shrugged. "I guess we'll see what happens."

Izzy immediately knelt and prayed that I don't do a slash fic for my twentieth fic, RP or otherwise.

"Oy…" I looked to the side with an exasperated look before turning back to Izzy. "No, I think for my tenth RP fic, I'll do the one thing that no RP author, at least as far as I know, has done."

"Well…?" The furry asked, getting up.

"I'm going to write a fic that contains over—" I held my pinky to my mouth as the camera did a close-up ala Dr. Evil. "—one hundred thousand words!" As soon as the number left my lips, Izzy was beside himself with laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA—You!? Break a hundred thousand words!? HAHAHAHAHA!!!" He laughed some more. "There's no way _that's_ ever gonna happen! You haven't even come close yet! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" I closed my eyes sadly.

"How nice to see so much confidence in my writing abilities." I opened my eyes and turned to the camera. "Anyway, as mentioned in the last chapter, we have officially started commentary for the game. Now, we'll get into the stages."

"Ha!" Izzy pointed at me. "Now I know there's no way you'll break a hundred thousand words!"

"Whaddya mean?" I asked curiously.

"Don't you remember The Substitute?" He started. "You skipped around so much that each game was completed in just one chapter! There's no way you'll hit a hundred thousand words skipping around!"

"Yeah, I know." I simply answered with a shrug.

"Huh?" He gaped at me. I crossed my arms.

"Duh! I skipped around that time because I had to cover commentary for each game within a chapter! If I did full commentary, the story would've been so long that nobody would've read it, let alone review it!"

Izzy blinked.

"So what're you doing this time around?"

"I'm doing full commentary for each stage." I replied, causing his eyes to widen.

"Buh!?!" I sighed.

"It's like this: Almost every chapter from here on out will be split into two parts, covering the various 'zones' of the game. Nearly every chapter will follow a different team in a rotation until we reach the final stage." I turned to the camera. "For the first part of this chapter, we're going to follow Team Rocket—"

Izzy growled at the possible joke, causing me to roll my eyes.

"—as they battle through the coastal area outside Ocean Shores. Can Otto, Twister, and Sam survive and get through the robot-infested Seaside Hill? Find out today!" I waved at the camera.

"Hmph." Izzy grunted, crossing his arms as he turned to the camera. "One more thing, don't forget that Fox Boy and his pals are still wearing their skating gear. After all, we gotta play by the rules of the show."

------------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Five

Team Rocket's Day at the Beach

Part One

**Stage One: Seaside Hill**

**Mission****: Get to the whale island!**

"Woah! Look at those waves!" Otto exclaimed.

He, Sam, and Twister have recently arrived in an uninhabited beach area that was miles away from their homes in Ocean Shores. The area seemed to be full of old ruins. Many hills were also present. The sun was shining brightly upon them. Seagulls were flying through the air. The three were looking out at the ocean. The waves were positively huge! They were at least fifteen feet high. The water looked fresh and clean as the tubes broke against the shoreline.

The trio stared at the swell for a few minutes before turning to each other.

"Think we can catch a few sets?" Twister asked excitedly.

"No way! We gotta find Dr. Coconutman!" Otto replied, causing the echidna to sulk.

"Yeah. Besides, we don't have our boards." Sam pointed out.

"We can always rent one…" Twister sighed, pointing at a nearby shack. Over the entrance was a sign that read, "Surfboard Rentals."

"Hey, I thought this was an _uninhabited_ area." The fox said as he looked up.

(Me: Boy, didn't you learn your lesson back at Mad Town? And about what you said, I guess I _did_ embellish a little. Heh, heh.)

The trio sweatdropped.

"Anyway, forget it Twist." Otto started. "I won't rest until Coconutman is stopped, whoever he is." The echidna sighed.

"Alright…"

"Come on, you guys. We're wasting time!" Sam reminded. The best bros turned to him and nodded.

"Right! Let's get to business!" Otto shouted, skating forward. Sam and Twister followed right behind him.

They sped along the beach in a single file formation. Otto was first, Sam was second, and Twister was bringing up the rear.

(A/N: Speaking from a realistic viewpoint, I'm well aware that there is no way Sam would be behind Otto. He should be behind Twister. The thing is that's how the game works.)

As they neared a grassy area, they each skated across a small treadmill-like device. They got a momentary boost of speed.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

(Me: That would be a boost pad. They send you forward. You'll be seeing plenty of them on your journey.)

Moving on, they continued over a bridge towards a wall. They passed by a couple of floating monitors that had something orange pictured. The trio was going too fast to see what was displayed, however. They hit another boost pad when they noticed a red metal bar sitting against the wall. There were three lights on it.

"What the heck's that thing?" Twister asked.

"Don't know, don't care!" Otto replied.

They ran into the bar and bounced up as balls. At the apex of their jump, the leader noticed a trio of rainbow-colored rings that were suspended in the air. They looked bigger than each of the three animals.

"Hey you guys! Try to go through those loops!" He ordered. Everybody used their momentum to push themselves forward through the loops. The rings spun and propelled them forward.

"Alright!" Twister cheered as all three of them did a 360. They got out of it and landed firmly on a ridge. A few feet ahead of them was a strange, gate-like device. It was made up of two posts. An orange-ish light was coming from both of them. Floating above it was a monitor just like the one the trio passed. The screen was glowing orange and displaying the word "Power."

"Now what?" Otto asked impatiently. Sam put a hand to his chin.

"Hmmmm… Seems like a gate of some sort." The other two glowered at him. "What?!"

"Duh! We _know_ it's a gate, Squid!" Otto started. "But we don't know what'll happen if we cross it."

"It doesn't seem harmful though…"

"Yeah right." The hedgehog scoffed. "This is probably a trap."

"Let's just go." Twister spoke up. "If it _is_ a trap, I bet we can handle it!"

"Sounds good to me." Sam said.

"Alright. Let's go." Otto agreed, nodding.

And so, they went towards the gate. As soon as they passed it, everybody switch positions. Everybody was now skating sideways. Twister was standing in the middle, Otto was on his left, and Sam was on his right.

"So _that's_ what happens…" Sam commented, nodding to himself.

"So much for it being a trap." Twister added.

"Good thing it wasn't." Otto said as they moved on.

They skated down the hill towards two devices that were lined up side by side. They were each sloping upwards and contained a treadmill.

"So what's—"

"Never mind, Squid! Just hit it!" Otto interrupted. They skated up to the devices and were propelled into the air over water. They landed on the other side of the chasm and stopped.

"So what _was_ that, author dude?" Twister asked, looking up.

(Me: Those were jump pads, they'll send you soaring.)

"Guess we'll be seeing a lot more of those, huh?" Sam questioned.

(Me: Yep. Continue.)

The trio skated forward another few feet before stopping. Ahead of them were a holographic circle that had a question mark on it and another circle. This one was solid. It had a star in the center. It was also spinning.

"Are we gonna keep stopping every few seconds or what?" Otto asked impatiently.

(Me: Sorry, but since this is the first level, ya gotta know how things work. Now if you don't mind… Twister, touch the hint ring.)

"The what now?" The echidna asked, looking up with a questioning look.

(Me: ::Sighs:: The one with the question mark.)

"Ooooohhhhh…" Twister reached out towards the circle. It disappeared and a piece of paper floated into his hand. He then took a look at it. "It says, 'This is a checkpoint. The current leader will get a level-up when they pass through.'"

"Hey! Whaddya mean 'current leader!?' _I'm_ the only leader around here!" Otto protested.

(Me: ::Chuckles:: Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough.)

The trio sweatdropped before continuing on. They passed through the checkpoint. The star circle disappeared and Twister glowed brightly for a couple of seconds.

"Hey Twist, you feel alright?" Otto asked worriedly.

"Yeah… But for some reason, I feel stronger." The echidna replied.

"I guess that means you got a level-up." Sam said.

"_What?_ But how!?" Otto demanded. The others shrugged before continuing. They quickly skidded to a stop, again.

"Woooooooooaaaaaaaaaahhhhh…" They gasped in amazement at the sight before them.

They were standing in front of a huge loop-de-loop. It was split into three separate paths. Beyond it was a small incline. When they got over the sight of it, Sam gulped nervously.

"D-d-don't tell me w-we have to go over that."

"We don't have a choice, Sammy." Twister answered.

"But what if I don't make it?" The fox asked, shaking.

"Chill Squid. You got your air skates, remember? They'll pull ya through." Otto encouraged. The fox gulped again before nodding.

"I hope you're right."

"Then let's do this!" The hedgehog yelled. The others nodded before speeding forward towards the loop. The trio went up it. Sam gave a yelp of surprise as he saw the world spin upside down for a second before he found himself on solid ground again. The fox kneeled and panted.

"At least…it's over…"

(Me: ::Whistles innocently::)

"Oh God… What does that mean?" He asked fearfully.

(Me: Unfortunately for you, that was the first of many loops. And they'll only get bigger.)

Sam's eyes widened at that. He then turned to the hedgehog, who had his arms crossed.

"Otto, it's not too late to back out of this, is it?"

"Yep." Otto nodded. Sam groaned before looking up with a glare.

"Can I get an air sickness bag, at least!?"

(Me: Sure. Here ya go. ::Snaps my fingers::)

A blue paper bag appeared in Sam's hands.

(Me: Anymore complaints?)

"Nope. I'm cool." Sam replied.

"Finally! Let get going!" Twister shouted. The other two furries nodded and moved on. Sam put the bag away as they climbed a hill. When they reached the top, they went over a straightaway. They turned a corner and gasped.

Near another wall was a trio of robots. They were red, round, and small. They had glowing blue eyes. They seemed to have a grin on there faces. For the sake of argument, we'll call them coconut pawns. They seemed harmless, if you don't count the machine guns in their hands. Otto, Sam, and Twister quickly backed away behind the bend. They looked around the wall at the robots.

"Those must be Coconutman's robots." Sam commented.

"Yeah. What do we do, Ottoman?" Twister asked, turning to their leader.

"They don't look so tough. I think we can take them." Otto answered. "You with me?" The others nodded almost reluctantly.

"Yeah…"

"Then charge!" Otto shouted, turning around the corner, screaming like a maniac. Twister and Sam sweatdropped before shrugging. They too screamed as they ran around the corner.

A few seconds passed before gunshots were heard, followed by…

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" Team Rocket screamed as they ran back around the corner, dodging the lethal spray. They leaned against the wall, panting.

"They don't look so tough, huh?!" Twister was the first to speak.

"'_I think we can take them._'" Sam mocked Otto's voice. "Not!"

"Ok! So I got a little hasty!" Otto defended. "I still say we can take them!"

"How? We don't have guns like they do." Twister said. Otto put a hand to his chin and paced around, trying to think of a solution. He walked around, thinking for a few moments before snapping his fingers.

"Ok. First of all, we need a system for how we travel. Twist, when we passed by that gate back there, me and Sam wound up on either side of you, right?"

"Yeah…" The echidna replied with a nod.

"And you got those fists of yours… Ok! That'll be our power formation. Twist, you're the leader when we're set up like that, got it?"

"Yeah. No problem, Ottoman." Otto paced around again.

"And when we got started, I was in front while Sam was behind and Twister was in back…" He brought his head up. "Alright. Since _I'm_ the fastest out of all of us, I'll be the leader when we're in speed formation, ok?"

"Right." The others replied, giving him a thumbs-up.

"What about me, Otto?" Sam asked.

"Since you could fly with those tails of yours, you'll be the leader when we're in flying formation." Otto replied. The fox gaped at him.

"You want _me_ to carry you guys while flying?!"

"Don't worry, Squid. Didn't you grab that strength thingy before we left?" Twister reminded.

"Yes, but it hasn't even been tested yet."

"Then this'll be the perfect time to test it!" Otto said.

"But, but…" Sam sighed, giving up a losing battle. "Fine. I'll be the leader in flying formation…" He sighed again. "I wish Reggie was here. She could help with this part."

"Well, she's not, so we'll have to manage. Not that we need her, of course." The hedgehog said. "So let's try out those formations. First, we'll do speed."

"_There's_ a surprise." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah." Twister agreed. The hedgehog glowered at them.

"Just do it!"

The trio got into formation. Sam stood behind Otto while Twister got in back. They all practiced skating around, keeping in line with each other. They skated around the area, jumping at the same time for a little while before getting the hang of it.

"Ok. I think we got speed formation down." Otto said, nodding. "Now let's try flying formation. You're up Squid." The fox in question gulped and nodded.

"Ok. Here we go."

He spun his tails and jumped up, taking flight. Otto jumped up and grabbed his hands. Twister then jumped and grabbed onto Otto's feet. The jewel on Sam's strength intensifier glowed as they hovered a few inches off the ground. Sam didn't even feel his friends' weight. They moved around, jumping every so often. Whenever they jumped, they would each flip up. Before they landed on the ground, they would get out of their ball forms and grab onto each other again.

"Alright Squid!" Twister cheered.

"Now try flying!" Otto instructed.

"Ok!" Sam replied. He spun his tails faster and ascended into the air. The hedgehog and echidna swayed back and forth as the fox flew around. Soon, he panted and touched down. The others let go of him.

"Whew… It gets tiring after awhile."

"No prob, Squid. At least we know it works." Otto said, turning to Twister. "You ready for power formation, bro?"

"You know it!" The orange one replied, giving him a thumbs-up.

Like at the gate they passed earlier, Otto and Sam got on the left and right sides of Twister and moved around, making sure not to get too close to the other. Since they already experienced power formation before, they had no problem getting used to it.

"Ok. I think we're all set." Otto addressed his pals. "Let's do this!" His teammates nodded and ran around the wall to face the coconut pawns.

The trio of robots noticed the furries right away and opened fire. The animals skated around their attacks flawlessly as they got closer. Twister drew back a fist and drove it into the center pawn, damaging it a bit. The robot turned to him and readied its weapon. The echidna covered his arms in defense. Before the automaton can attack, Otto rolled into it, destroying it. Twister looked and grinned at the robot parts that littered the ground.

"Thanks a lot, Ottoman!"

"Anytime, bro. Anytime." Otto replied.

"Uhhh guys? Little help!?" Sam screamed, running away from the remaining two robots. His teammates turned and ran after the pawns. Before the robots knew it, Otto and Twister made the finishing blow, destroying them instantly. The fox turned and sighed with relief before walking back to them.

"Thanks for the assist." He said.

"No prob. We gotta look out for each other, Squid." Twister said, dusting off his hands.

"Yeah. It's only gonna get tougher from here on." Otto added. "Come on. Let's move."

"Hang on." Twister walked up to a piece of ruin. On top of it was a hint ring. "Better see what this one says." He touched it and a piece of paper appeared in his hand. He looked at it and gave a weirded out glance.

"Huh?"

"What's up?" Otto asked as he and Sam walked over. Twister turned and handed the hedgehog the paper.

"Here. I don't get what this is about."

Pictured on the paper was what seemed to be a comic. In the first panel was a crude stick figure drawing of the trio in power formation. They were each colored with a crayon in their respective colors. The second panel featured Twister holding a red ball in his left hand and a yellow ball in his right. The final panel had the echidna in the air. It seemed like he was throwing the red ball at a coconut pawn. Like the animals, it was a stick figure colored with crayon. There was an orange marking surrounding the ball that looked like fire. Underneath the comic were the words, "Fire Dunk."

"Freaky." Otto said, handing the paper to Sam.

"So what does it mean?" Twister asked as the fox read the comic. Sam looked through the comic several times before snapping his fingers.

"I got it! Twister, this is an attack you can use to fight." He started. "When we're in power formation, Otto and I can roll into balls and you carry us. When we're near robots, you jump up and throw us as fireballs at them." Twister gave him a curious look.

"Cool, but how can I lift you guys?" Sam slapped his head.

"Your flame ring also increases your strength, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Twister replied happily. "…But wouldn't you guys get burned if I tried that move?" The others shrugged in response. "Guess we better test it out."

"No time! Let's move!" Otto ordered, skating forward. The fox and echidna shrugged before following in speed formation.

They got to a wall in the area they were in. On the left side, a power formation monitor was floating, as well as a stone block. On the right side was a floating monitor that had a yellow screen. On it was the word, "Fly."

"Guess I'm up." Sam said. They got into fly formation and ascended over the ridge. They were now in front of another stone block. Sam flew up again and got the team over the ledge. In front of them was a coconut pawn.

"I'll take care of 'em!" Twister said, taking the lead. "Let's try out that Fire Dunk move."

"Got it!" Otto said as he and Sam rolled into balls and got into Twister's hands. The echidna ran up to the robot and jumped. Before the robot can attack, he threw Otto towards it. The hedgehog was wrapped in fire as he collided into it, destroying it instantly. The fire around Otto disappeared as he landed.

"Alright! It works!" Twister cheered as he let go of Sam. The fox adjusted his glasses.

"Heh. Of course it works. _I_ invented the flame ring, after all."

"Whatever, Squid." Otto said, rolling his eyes. "I'll take the lead now!"

The team went into speed formation again and sped down a hill. They skated down the decline, across a straightaway, and into a boost pad. The pad sent them up a semi-loop. They went upside down for a few seconds before hitting a spring that sent them towards another spring that knocked them to a ledge in front of a power formation gate. They went though it and switched to power formation. They walked up to a stone block.

"Hey Twist, I think you can break this." Sam said.

"Uhh… You sure about this?" Twister asked nervously.

"Sure bro! Go for it!" Otto shouted. The echidna gulped and turned towards the rock.

"Ok…" He took a deep breath and put up his fists. "Hee-yah!" He pushed his right fist forward and crashed it into the rock, breaking it with no problem. A spring bar was revealed. His teammates patted him on the shoulder.

"Good job, Twist!" Sam said.

"Yeah dude! You didn't have anything to worry about." Otto added.

"Thanks you guys! I—YEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!" Twister screamed, holding his throbbing hand. The others sweatdropped as he ran around in an attempt to soothe his fist. When the throbbing ended, he gave Sam a death glare.

"Squid…" He growled, shaking violently. He moved towards the other boy. "I'm gonna—"

"Woah! Hang on! I didn't know that was gonna happen!" Sam defended, backing away with his hands held up.

"Well now you're _gonna_ know! The hard way!" Twister yelled, pulling back his fists. Before he could give his friend a black eye, Otto got in the way.

"Enough! He didn't know, so drop it!" Twister put his fist down and turned away with a huff.

"Fine. Let's just keep going." He said. Sam held his chest and sighed with relief.

The trio got back into formation as they approached the spring and bounced up. They landed on a higher area that had another spring bar at the end. They bounced off that one and reached an area that had four coconut pawns patrolling. Two of them had no weapons while the other two had guns. Twister made quick work of them with a couple of Fire Dunk attacks.

"Heh. Not bad." Otto commented. "You're getting better with that move, Twist."

"Thanks, Ottoman." Twister replied.

"Hey! What's that?" Sam asked, pointing at a red orb. It was lying on the ground.

"One of the robots must've dropped it." Otto said, walking up to it. He bent down and picked it up. It immediately disappeared and he glowed for a few seconds. He grinned when he felt a little faster. "Alright! I think I just got a level-up!"

"Cool, bro!" Twister cheered.

"So, there are other ways of getting level-ups." Sam said, holding a hand to his chin.

"We'll worry about it later." Otto said, skating forward. The other two followed, but quickly skidded to a stop when they noticed that a couple of blocks were in the way. "Ok Twist. You know what to do."

"Ohhhhh no! There's no way I'm bustin' my fist again!" Twister protested, crossing his arms. Otto groaned.

"Fine. I guess we're gonna have to fly over them, Squid."

"No problem." Sam said. The trio got into fly formation and flew over the blocks.

When they cleared the blocks, they switched back to speed formation and blazed down a steep hill. When they reached the bottom, they went through a small canyon and hit a checkpoint, allowing Otto to level-up again.

"Sweet!" The hedgehog cheered as they skated up to another loop. This one seemed _much_ bigger than the first one they went through. Otto sniggered as he looked back. "Hey Squid, you better have that air sickness bag ready."

"I'm _way_ ahead of you, Rocket Boy." Sam replied, taking out the bag. He took a deep breath as they approached the loop. He and Twister followed Otto up the center lane. They went upside down and down the other side before hitting a jump pad. As they flew towards an island, the team saw a truly remarkable sight.

"_Killer whales?!_" Twister exclaimed.

Two killer whales just jumped over them.

"I didn't even know killer whales were indigenous to these waters." Sam added with equal shock.

"Guess you learn something new everyday." Otto said.

The trio landed on the island, which had a trio of coconut pawns on it. Only one of them had a weapon. The others seemed to be scouts. In front of them was a hint ring. The robots charged towards the furries.

"Hurry up and grab it, Ottoman!" Twister said. Otto made a dive for the circle and grabbed it before skating away from the robots. A piece of paper appeared in his hand.

"Let's see what this is about!" He shouted while skating. He took one look at the paper and groaned. "Great! It's another comic! You take a look, Squid!" He reached back. Sam grabbed the paper and stopped to read it while Otto and Twister left to take care of the robots.

In the first panel was a stick figure drawing of the team in speed formation. The second panel showed each of them jumping towards a robot. The third panel showed Otto spinning around the robot. The fourth showed a reddish swirl of wind that threw the robot into the air. The words under the comic read, "Red Tornado."

"Otto! I think you can generate wind!" The fox said.

"Ugh! How!?" The hedgehog asked, dodging a blast from the center pawn.

"Jump up, spin into a ball and propel yourself around one of the robots!"

"Ok! Here goes!" Otto jumped up and arched his back. He rolled into a ball and went towards the nearest robot. "Take this!" He spun around the robot a couple of times, creating a tornado of red energy. The robot was thrown into the air. Otto landed and turned to Sam, who walked up.

"So what's that called?" He asked.

"It's called 'Red Tornado.'" The yellow one answered. The red one grimaced.

"'Red Tornado?' Man! Talk about a weak name!"

(Me: Then what would _you_ call it, smart mouth!?)

Otto stood there, thinking. Meanwhile, the coconut pawn he tossed up landed and shot right up. He soon snapped his fingers.

"I'll call it 'Rocket Twister.'" Twister groaned at that.

"Man! What's with everybody naming everything after me?!" He yelled. Sam and Otto sweatdropped.

"Yah…" Sam said, turning to the leader. "So that's what you're calling it?"

"Yep." Otto nodded. The fox shrugged.

"Eh. Alright."

"Uhhh guys?" Twister said nervously.

"Yeah?" The other two asked, turning to him. They gasped when they noticed all three coconut pawns getting ready to pounce.

"I'll take care of them!" Otto proclaimed, jumping up.

He got into a ball and fired himself at one of the robots, destroying it once he made contact. He bounced off it and launched himself at the second robot, dispatching it and gaining an orange level-up orb for Twister. He landed and skated up to the last robot. He jumped and tossed himself at it, putting an end to its evil ways. He panted as the others ran up to him.

"Man! That move was all time!" Twister yelled. "I thought only Lars could do that." Otto chuckled as he stood straight up.

"What? The homing attack? I've _been_ able to do that one for years!" He bragged, closing his eyes. His companions rolled their eyes and walked forward. Otto opened his eyes and ran after them.

"Come on! I'm serious!"

"Suuuuuuuuure you are." Twister humored. Sam chuckled in response.

"We better get back to business." He said before walking up to a cannon that was sitting on some blocks. A hint ring was nearby, so he activated it. A piece of paper floated into his hand. He took a look at it.

"Let's see… 'This cannon will send you forward. The target's direction depends on the formation. In power formation, you can decide the target or cancel the shot.'"

"But what about the other formations?" Otto asked.

"It doesn't say." Sam answered. "I guess the cannon just targets and shoots us automatically."

"Alright. To be on the safe side, we better go into speed formation."

"Right." Sam and Twister replied with a nod.

They got back into formation and jumped into the cannon. It moved by itself until it pointed straight ahead. It then fired our heroes high into the air. As they descended, some platforms rose out of the water, providing them with a safe landing spot.

"These ruins must move when we get close to them." Sam commented.

They went across the platforms when they saw a new type of robot. There were three of them. They were floating in the air. Like the coconut pawns, they were red and had grins on their faces. They also had small airplane wings on their sides. There was a jet engine on each of their backs. These robots were called flappers. Otto scoffed at them.

"This'll be no problem, right guys?"

"This is gonna be a piece of cake!" Twister replied.

"Let's just take care of them." Sam said. Otto nodded.

"Right! Just follow my lead!" He jumped up. Sam and Twister also jumped.

The hedgehog then used a homing attack on the nearest flapper. The fox and echidna shot forward too, destroying the robot. The trio bounced up and attacked the other two robots in a similar fashion. When they reached the last one, they noticed a red balloon with a star pictured on it. They hit it and Otto got another power core, giving him his third and final (for the moment) level-up. They landed on top of a small plateau that had a palm tree on it. On either side was a coconut pawn. The one on the right was carrying a lance, while the one on the left was carrying a gun.

"Twist, take care of 'em!" Otto ordered.

"Right bro!" Twister replied, taking the lead. He grabbed his friends and jumped to the right. Before he landed, he shot Otto at the robot, destroying it. He quickly skated over to the other pawn and punched it with the fist that still had Sam on it. The robot was taken care of.

"Ouch!" The fox shouted, jumping away from the echidna. "What was that about!?"

"Just getting you back for earlier. Bust!" Twister teased. Sam growled at him.

"Man! What's your beef today!?" Otto scolded both of them. "Hey, what's that?" He pointed at a yellow orb. Sam grinned.

"It's a level-up for me." He said happily, grabbing the ball. A bright energy glowed around him for a few seconds.

"So what do you say, Squid?" Twister asked with a smirk. The fox glared at him.

"Don't push it."

"Chill!" Otto yelled. "Let's get going."

"But where do we go from here?" Sam asked.

"Up." The leader simply replied, pointing ahead of them. There was a high cliff that seemed to go farther into the area. Ruins were in front of it. They were arranged like stairs. A couple of fly formation monitors were floating. The yellow one gulped.

"Oh… Up."

"Right. So take the lead." Twister said. Sam put on a determined expression.

"Ok! Grab on!"

The fox flew up, allowing the trio to get into fly formation. Sam flew up the ruins until they came up to a flapper. This one was green. It also had a gun on it underside. He grinned.

"Alright! Time to test out my Thunder Shoot attack!" His teammates looked at him funny before facing each other.

"'Thunder Shoot?'"

Sam brought his right foot back and kicked Otto. The hedgehog shot off towards the flapper as a ball. He was crackling with electricity as he collided with the robot. It was paralyzed as it fell into the water. Otto landed on one of the ruins and glared at Sam.

"Hey! Little warning next time!" He yelled, shaking a fist. The fox shrugged.

"Oops…" He said as he touched down, letting Twister go.

They moved on, switching to speed formation. They skated up a small hill and stopped when they noticed a strange-looking bobsled. It was red and had four wheels. It only had one seat, which was in the front. There was a small drill on the front as well. The sled also had a horizontal bar at the top and in the back near the ground. The trio looked up with a confused expression.

(Me: This bobsled will carry you onward for a bit. Twister, you get in the seat and handle driving. Sam, you grab on to the top bar and handle jumping. Lastly, Otto, you take the bar in the back and take care of accelerating.)

"Uhhh… Right." They all said. Twister jumped into the only seat, Sam flew up to the first bar and hung on while flying, and Otto grabbed on to the second bar.

"Now what?" The leader asked.

(Me: Roll into a ball.)

Sweatdropping, the hedgehog did as he was told. He rolled into a ball, causing the bobsled to start moving. Twister, shocked by the sudden burst of speed, clumsily steered the bobsled through the twists and turns of the gorge they were in. After a couple of turns, they cleared the gorge and sped down a small hill. They went over some sand before going up onto a grassy path and then some ruins. After a few more turns, during which the echidna managed to control it, they reached the end of the track. They crashed into a small wall, tossing all of them forward. Sam got a level-up in the process.

"Man! That was awesome!" The echidna cheered, giving his teammates, who were dizzy, a thumbs-up.

"Ugh… Whatever…" Otto groaned.

"Yeah… And why are there three of you?" Sam asked, stumbling around. The fox and the hedgehog shook their heads and got back to business. Ahead of them were a flapper and a couple of jump pads.

The team switched to fly formation and took care of the robot with Thunder Shoot. They then switched back to speed formation and skated up to the pads. They were propelled into the air. They flew through a trio of rainbow-colored rings that were lined up behind each other. The group was pushed ahead over a wide crevice.

"Alright!" Otto cheered as all three of them did an Ollie. His eyes widened when he noticed that they were heading towards a ridge that had a checkpoint on it. "Quick! Switch to power formation!"

As they landed, Twister took the lead and grabbed the checkpoint, giving him his third level-up.

"Yes! Good call, bro!" The echidna said.

"Thanks." Otto replied as he looked ahead. There was a spring bar right in front of them. "I'll take the lead now."

They went into speed formation and used their homing attack. They hit the spring and were sent upwards. They landed on another cliff. Ahead of them were a couple of coconut pawns and a fly monitor. The trio skated up to them and used a couple of homing attacks to destroy them. They then noticed that they had to go up.

"Looks like you're up, Squid." Twister said.

"Ok." Sam replied. They got into fly formation and flew up.

Before they reached the top of the cliff, they hit a spring, which sent them to another spring, which sent them into a couple of rings that were suspended in the air. Unlike the rainbow rings they just used, these were machine-like. We'll just call them air rings. The team hit the rings and was sent to another path. They skated around the bend to find a coconut pawn that had a lance. Behind it were three flappers. They were lined up diagonally facing left.

"Aw man!" Otto groaned, turning to Sam. "You better take care of them with Thunder Shoot."

"Why'd you groan for, bro?" Twister asked. Otto pointed at the fox.

"He's gotta kick me in order to use it, remember?"

"Oh yeah…" Twister nodded.

"So let's get into formation." Sam said. The others nodded and got into fly formation, again.

The fox reared back his foot and launched Otto towards the robots. He only got the coconut pawn and the lowest flying flapper. The hedgehog was still sailing through the air as Sam kicked Twister. The echidna screamed in pain as he crashed into the remaining flappers. Both furries returned to their original positions and glared at him. The kitsune gave them a confused look.

"What? You knew I was going to kick you!"

"Yeah! But you kick too hard!" Twister yelled, rubbing his sore bottom.

"And _we_ get shocked too!" Otto added. Sam sweatdropped as he gave them a curious look.

"You do?" The other two nodded. He grinned sheepishly. "I guess I need to adjust the attachments a bit."

"Whatever." Otto sighed. "Just take us to those loops over there." He pointed towards three air rings that went to the left. They were suspended over a piece of ruin.

"Got it." Sam said as he flew over towards the platform.

As the team jumped on it, the ruins started falling!

"Woah!" Twister yelled.

"Hang on!" Sam spun his tails and ascended into the air. He flew into the air rings while leaning his body to the left. The loops propelled the trio towards an alcove. They landed and switched to speed formation. They looked ahead and noticed many coconut pawns ahead.

"There's gotta be a way around them…" Otto said, holding his chin. The others looked around for a way to get around the robots. Twister's eyes lit up were he saw a row of air rings floating. They seemed to lead to a part of the path that was beyond the robots.

"I think I found a shortcut, guys!" He announced, pointing at the loops.

"Alright Twist!" Otto complimented, turning to Sam. "Let's get into fly formation again."

"Right!" Sam replied. He took the lead and flew off the path and over to the rings. They were propelled over a beach to another stone path.

After fighting through a couple of robots, they hit another trio of air rings and found themselves in another canyon. They were currently in speed formation as they went up a hill. They reached the top and noticed an incoming checkpoint. They skidded to a stop.

"Ok. Who isn't fully powered up yet?" Otto asked.

"I know I am." Twister said confidently.

"I still need one more." Sam added.

"Alright Squid, you take the level-up." The leader said. The fox nodded and walked up to the checkpoint. He grabbed it and got his final level-up. They then continued with Otto in the lead.

The group skated down a steep hill made of stone. At the end of the path were two jump pads. They hit them, went through a trio of rainbow rings, and landed in front of some flappers. Everybody was now on ruins that were erected over the ocean.

"Up to you, Squid." Twister said.

"Boy, I sure seem to be needed a lot, huh?" Sam commented as they went into fly formation. He kicked Otto towards the robots, getting rid of them instantly.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm sure you won't be needed too much for the rest of this little adventure." The hedgehog said when he came back. The fox smirked at him.

"We'll see about that."

"Can we get moving already? My arms are killing me!" Twister complained.

"Alright, alright." Sam said, moving forward.

Since they were by a wall, the fox flew the team up and over it. At the end of _this_ ledge were five flappers. They were quickly taken care of. Staying in fly formation, the trio hit a spring bar, sending them up to another path. Directly ahead of them were three more flappers. Sam kicked both of his teammates at the trio, destroying them.

"Alright Squid!" Both the hedgehog and echidna cheered as they landed. Sam let go and landed beside them.

"Thanks, but it was nothing."

"Yeah, you're right." Otto said, causing Sam to fall over. "Let's go!" He skated away. Sam got up with a groan and followed with Twister right behind him.

The team barreled down the path. A killer whale jumped over the bridge as they reached a power gate. Twister became the leader as soon as they passed it. To Sam's dismay, they hit some boost pads, propelling them through another loop. They got past the obstacle and skidded to a stop. They were at an entrance to a tunnel, but it was blocked by giant stones.

"Ok Sam. Fly." Twister said.

"I can't. There's not enough space." The fox replied.

"Then how do we get through?! It hurts to punch those things!" The echidna protested. Otto held his chin.

"Maybe if you hold me and Squid as balls, you can punch through them and it won't hurt ya."

"You mean like boxing gloves?" Sam asked.

"Exactly!" Otto turned to his best friend. "So whaddya say?" The orange one shrugged.

"Worth a shot, I guess…"

"Then let's do this!"

Otto and Sam rolled into balls and jumped into Twister's hands. The echidna closed his eyes in concentration, trying to get his bearings straight. A few seconds passed before he opened his eyes and reared back his right fist. He slammed into the stones, making them crumble instantly. A long corridor full of stone blocks and coconut pawns were revealed.

"Alright, you bunch of toasters, I'm coming for ya!" Twister yelled as he skated forward.

He punched out a pawn that was on the left before hitting a boost pad. It propelled him to another pawn that was on the right. He destroyed it, skated past another boost pad, and punched through a wall of stone blocks, revealing a sharp decline. He skated down it through a straightaway and into a room. There was a cannon in the center. Sunlight was pouring in through the roof. Three more coconut pawns charged towards him with their lances drawn. Twister quickly jumped up and used Fire Dunk to wipe them out. He kneeled and panted as his teammates unrolled.

"Whew… What a rush…" He said, taking off his winged helmet. He then took out his hat and fanned himself with it.

"Come on, Twist! There's no time to rest!" Otto said. Twister scowled at him.

"Fine. You take the lead now." He said as he put his hat away and put his helmet back on.

"Alright." The hedgehog said with a shrug.

The trio switched to speed formation and jumped into the cannon. They were shot towards springs that sent them up the room. When they hit the last the last spring, they were propelled through five air rings that went over a chasm. They then skated along a short path that ended with a jump pad.

"Major air!" The hedgehog cheered as they flew through the air.

"Oh no! I'll fall!" Sam screamed.

"We'll make it!" Twister reassured.

He was right. They reached a huge piece of ruin that was suspended by great stone pillars. They landed and skated up to a bobsled. The team got on it and rode it down a hill. They went down an almost highway-like path, destroying more ruins. When they reached the end, they found themselves going towards another loop.

"Oh God! Not again!" Sam groaned, pulling out his air sickness bag. Otto and Twister snickered at him.

They went up the center path, which seemed to stretch for a mile or two above the bridge. Sam screamed in terror at the sheer length of the ascent. His wailing became high pitched on the way down. When they finally got through it, the trio went down the path until they hit a boost pad that sent them up a wall. They landed on a new ledge, which was inhabited by a few coconut pawns. Sam's eyes became two swirls as he plunged his head into his air sickness bag.

"Let Otto handle this." Twister said. Otto spun around.

"Oh screw that! You take care of 'em!" He shouted as Sam groaned and wiped his mouth.

"What?! No way! I don't wanna fight them!" Twister argued. Sam rolled his eyes as the two continued fighting. He let them fight for a few minutes before speaking up.

"Hey! _I'll_ take care of them!" The other two blinked and turned to him. They then whispered to each other and nodded.

"Fine by us." They both said. Sam rolled his eyes again as they got into fly formation. He kicked both of them extra hard at the robots, shocking them to destruction. The duo came back to the fox. They got out of formation.

"There. Satisfied?" The yellow one said smugly. Otto and Twister glared at him before turning away.

"Come on. We're close to the whale island." The hedgehog said.

Ahead of them was a rock formation that was shaped like a whale.

"Finally." The fox and echidna said with a sigh. They started skating again.

"Oh, and Sammy?"

"Yeah?" Sam asked. Otto faced him with a scowl.

"Don't think I didn't feel that last kick."

"Yeah!" Twister added. Sam gulped.

Otto faced ahead as they continued down the path. They soon approached a loop. Unlike the others before it, it only had one path. Also, it seemed to be _much_ bigger than the previous ones. It easily towered over the entire island. The fox closed his eyes and spun his tails as they went up the high ninety degree angle. His face turned green as they went upside down.

"Ugh… I think I'm gonna puke…again…" He groaned. Otto and Twister's eyes widened as they went down the loop.

"YOU BETTER HOLD IT!!!" They both roared.

They left the loop and skated into the whale island. They zoomed past some more robots at top speed. They then went up another wall. At the top, they hit a spring, propelling them into a balloon. A beeping sound was heard from Sam's watch as soon as they popped it. They landed on some ruins. Sam held his mouth as he ran around a wall. The hedgehog and echidna sweatdropped when they heard vomiting.

"What was that beeping?" Twister asked.

"Beats me." Otto said with a shrug. He then noticed a hint ring. "I wonder what this one's gonna say." He walked up to it and grabbed it. Unlike all the other ones, a piece of paper didn't appear in his hands. He looked up with a curious look.

"Huh?"

(Me: This is an audio hint. That beeping you just heard was your Team Blast meter. It was filled up.)

"Team Blast?" Twister asked.

(Me: Yep. Your Team Blast attack, 'Rocket Overdrive,' will wipe out any and all enemies that are nearby.)

"Sweet!" Otto cheered.

(Me: But wait, there's more! For the energy left in your gauge, Otto, you can use your light speed attack to deal with any enemies that survived the attack.)

"But how are we supposed to know how much longer it'll be before our meter is full?"

(Me: Ask Sam. His watch displays your meter.)

"Ugh… It's only the first level and already I hate this game…" Sam groaned, walking back to his teammates. "What'd I miss?"

"Oh nothing. Just the author explaining another aspect of game play." Otto answered. The fox sweatdropped to that.

"Right…"

"Hey Otto, there are some robots we can test out Rocket Overdrive on!" Twister exclaimed, pointing at some robots that were at the other end of the ruins. Sam gave Otto a questioning look.

"'Rocket Overdrive?'"

"You'll see." Otto said. "Come on! Let's get 'em!" He jumped down and skated towards the robots. Sam shrugged and followed with Twister. They skated up to the robots, which activated and charged at them.

"Ok you guys!" The hedgehog started. "Team Blast: Rocket Overdrive!"

Twister grabbed onto Sam's legs while the fox grabbed onto Otto's legs. The echidna spun them around and around before letting go. Sam also left go of Otto and brought his foot back.

"Blast off!" Otto yelled as he got kicked. He rolled into a ball as his body brimmed with energy. He zipped around the entire area, bouncing off and destroying all the robots instantly. Electrical energy followed him as he spiraled into the air and slammed down into the ground. When the attack ended, he bounced back and landed by his teammates.

"Woah! It works!" Twister shouted.

"What _was_ that!?" Sam asked with shock.

"We'll tell ya later Squid." Otto replied. "Now come on! I see something at that shrine thingy!"

They skated ahead towards what looked like shrine. There was something big and shimmering there. Before they left the ruins, there were some flashes of light. When they dissipated, some coconut pawns appeared. Otto grinned.

"Time to use the light speed attack!"

"Wha???" Sam asked confusedly. Otto didn't answer though. Instead, he jumped up and shot all over the place, destroying the robots with leftover energy from their Team Blast. The fox gaped at him when it ended. "W-what the…?"

"Like I said, we'll tell ya later." The hedgehog said. The trio approached the shrine. In the middle of it was a giant, golden ring. In the middle of it was a star much like the checkpoints they used.

"So what's this?" Twister asked.

(Me: This is the goal ring. Touch it to end the stage and the first part of the chapter.)

The team sweatdropped before reaching out for the ring. It glowed brightly before disappearing. The trio turned to each other with wide grins.

"Woogie! Woogie! Woogie!" They cheered, doing their special handshake.

"We did it!" Otto yelled.

"Sure took long enough." Sam said, crossing his arms.

"It's too bad we're just getting started." Twister added.

"Yeah. Let's get going. We'll find Coconutman and stop him from destroying all the skate parks in the world!" The hedgehog announced, skating off. His teammates followed.

To be continued…

------------------------------

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part One

"Hey! What happened to the guy who's playing as Dr. Robotnik!?!" Izzy demanded. "He was supposed to show up in this chapter!"

"The chapter's not over yet, remember?" I said, winking at him. "There's still Part Two."

"How'd I know you were gonna pull something like that?" The hedgehog asked with a groan. I shrugged before turning to the camera.

"Anyway, Team Rocket has made it through the first stage! Will they be able to get through the next one? Will they find Dr. Coconutman? Will Sam stop complaining?"

"I hope not." Izzy said with a grin. "It's great to see him get tortured for a change!"

"Ugh…" I sighed, rolling my eyes. I then waved at the camera. "See ya next time!"


	7. Team Rocket’s Day at the Beach, Pt 2

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Two

"Welcome to part two of chapter five!" I started. "Brought to you by the Chaos Emeralds of Sonic the Hedgehog's dimension!"

I gestured to a velvet curtain that Izzy was standing by. Grumbling, the hedgehog pulled back the drawstring. The curtain separated, revealing seven glowing jewels. They were purple, red, blue, yellow, green, cyan, and gray. They were about the size of a fist.

"It is with these emeralds that I transformed most of the Rocket Power cast into animals and gave our villain the resources to build his army of robots. Why, if we didn't have these fine symbols of power, we wouldn't even be doing this fic!"

Izzy's ears perked up after hearing that.

"Now _there's_ an idea." He snickered evilly.

"Don't even think it." I said to him with a glower. "You couldn't even touch them unless I authorized you to."

"Pffffft! You expect me to believe that load of bull!?" Izzy scoffed. "Nothing's separating them from me except a couple feet of air!" He reached towards the emeralds.

"Ok…" I shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Come to Daddy!"

My partner's hand was mere inches away from the jewels…

::ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!!!!!!!::

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed as volt after volt of electricity surged through him. He continued getting shocked for a few seconds before he was thrown far back. He landed in front of me, sizzling and smoking.

"Ouch…" He groaned, coughing up a cloud of smoke.

"I _tried_ to tell you." I admonished, shaking my head. "The emeralds are protected by an anti-theft system and only _I_ can grab them." Izzy growled as he stood.

"I hate you…" He proceeded to dust himself off.

"Like I don't hear that every day?" I asked, shrugging again.

"Hey, if we have Sonic's emeralds, wouldn't his dimension be in deep trouble or something?"

"Er…" I blinked, sweating slightly. "Ummm…"

"You don't know!?!" He roared. "And what happened to that rule where you can't take something from another dimension unless it was given to ya!?!"

"But the emeralds _were_ given to me." I clarified. He gave me a confused look.

"Who would be dumb enough to give you all seven Chaos Emeralds!?!"

"Knuckles." I answered simply. "I just told him that I'll give him a lifetime supply of grapes and he gave them to me like—" I snapped my fingers. "—that." Izzy slapped his forehead.

"You're kidding. He's not _that_ gullible!"

"You'd be surprised." I said with a nod. Izzy sweatdropped.

"Whatever."

"And about the dimension being plunged into darkness, the emeralds were taken into space before and the planet didn't implode or anything. I think Sonic's dimension is safe."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get started already!"

"Oh right! I always get so wrapped up in our little chats."

"_Little?!_"

"Shut up." I said, rolling my eyes as I turned to the camera. "Anyway, for part two of this chapter, we're still following Team Rocket as they travel to the archeological paradise known as Ocean Palace. Can our heroes survive?"

"I hope Sam doesn't." The hedgehog remarked.

"Oy…" I slapped my forehead. "Also, Dr. Coconutman's identity will _finally_ be revealed!"

"Took ya long enough!"

"Watch it, Izzy." I warned. He only crossed his arms indignantly in response. I turned to the camera. "Who is this evil genius and why does he want every skate park in the world destroyed? Find out now!"

------------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Five

Team Rocket's Day at the Beach

Part Two

**Stage Two: Ocean Palace**

**Mission****: Escape from the dilapidated ruins!**

The next leg of our heroes' journey started as they hit a jump pad. It sent them off the island they were on and towards a bridge that seemed to stretch out over the ocean.

"Alright you guys! You all ready!?" Otto yelled to his teammates as they landed.

"Yeah Ottoman! I'm ready to take out Coconutman's robots!" Twister shouted eagerly.

"Me too!" Sam agreed. "…Just as long as I don't have to skate up any more of those loops."

(Me: Hey! I told you! You still got the rest of the game to go through! Of course there are more loops!)

Otto and Twister sweatdropped as Sam let out a scream of agony. The red and orange ones sighed and looked ahead. Down a winding path that had two loops was the entrance to a palace. The path and the structure seemed to be made of white marble. At the top of the many colonnades were fish-like statues. They mainly resembled fish tails. Also, waterfalls fell from the tops of the statues.

"Woah… A palace…" Otto said in amazement.

"Cool!" Twister exclaimed. Sam stopped screaming and joined them.

"Yeah." He said with a nod. "A palace in the ocean." Their eyes went wide as they faced each other.

"A PALACE IN THE OCEAN!?! IN CALIFORNIA!?!" They all looked up.

(Me: ::Sighs:: Why do you guys think I have all the answers?)

"Because you're the author." Twister said.

"And you're _supposed_ to have all the answers." Sam continued.

"So tell us what's up with this!" Otto yelled.

(Me: You guys have hardly ever left Ocean Shores on the show. You don't know what the rest of the world is like. For all you know, everywhere aside from Ocean Shores, Oahu, the Grand Canyon, and New Zealand could be infested with omochao.)

Everybody else shuddered at the thought. They knew about the robotic chao that have caused many a soul to go insane from their dispersement of useless information.

"Still, that's a cheap excuse and you know it." Otto said, crossing his arms.

(Me: This is true. So start the stage already!)

"Alright, alright!" The trio shouted.

They got into speed formation and skated down the incline that started the path. They looked in awe at all the ruins that seemed to be brand new despite the fact they had to be quite ancient. They soon skated up the first loop. Sam gave a sickly groan as he and the others went upside down. The path dipped a bit as they hit two boost pads, one after the other. When they got up to the second loop, they skidded to a stop. The obstacle seemed to go in two separate paths.

"So which way do we go?" Otto asked, turning to the other two.

"It looks like it doesn't matter which way we go." Sam said thoughtfully.

"I'll go right!" Twister said.

"And I'll go left!" Otto added. They both skated towards their destinations, leaving Sam behind.

"Hey! Wait for me!" He yelled, skating after Twister.

The hedgehog went up the left loop and hit an item bubble, which contained a red power core, giving him his first level-up for the stage.

"Alright!" He cheered.

Meanwhile, Twister went up the right loop and got _his_ first level-up from an orange power core. The trio soon joined up and skated towards a jump pad. In the middle of the approaching chasm, Otto noticed three rainbow-colored rings that were lined up.

"Guys! Go into power formation!"

"Got it!" Sam and Twister replied, getting into formation.

The echidna took the lead as they hit the jump pad, sending them into the air. They all passed through the rings, propelling them forward.

"Yeah!" Twister shouted as he flipped upside down. Otto and Sam turned and gave the camera a thumbs-up as they sailed through the air. They righted themselves out just before landing in front of a huge stone door. Floating on either side near the top of them were two power monitors.

"Ok Twist, bust open that door!" Otto ordered, rolling into a ball.

"Right!" Twister acknowledged as his teammates jumped into his hands as balls. He reached back and struck the middle of the door with his right fist. The stone slabs were pushed back, but still didn't open.

"Hee-yah!" He shouted, bringing back his left fist. He let it fly into the door, opening it. On the other side were five coconut pawns. The echidna quickly jumped and got all of them with a single Fire Dunk. He panted slightly as he let go of Sam (he had tossed Otto at the robots).

"Come on Twist! There's no time to rest!" Otto said, taking the lead again. The one in the winged helmet panted for a bit more before following the leader and Sam down the path. They took care of a coconut pawn with a homing attack and made to go farther down the path when an overhead arch fell onto the path. The team jumped back to avoid getting crushed.

"Oh man! That was close." Sam said. "It seems that some of these ruins are so old that they'll crumble if we get too close."

"Yeah." Otto nodded, turning to Twister. "Guess we need ya again, bro."

"No prob!" He said, punching his hand. The others jumped into his hands as balls. He then punched out the piece of ruin and skated down a decline. The path straightened out as he skated up to another piece of ruin that collapsed. He punched his way through it and came to a dead end. He let go of Sam and Otto.

"Guess I'm up." The fox said. The team got into fly formation and flew up.

They passed through an air ring that propelled them onto the rest of the path. After going up a small incline, they found themselves in front of a checkpoint. Right after it was a speed formation gate.

"Ok Squid. Get the level-up so that we'll be even." Otto told the one in question.

"Alright." Sam nodded, moving forward.

They crossed the checkpoint, allowing the fox to get his first level-up. They then went through the gate, forcing them to switch to speed formation. The trio sped down a decline in the path. When they reached the bottom of the hill, a small piece of ruin fell. It was far away from them though, so they didn't worry about it. They were now in a large corridor. The walls on the sides each had a waterfall going down them. They soon came up to a wall. In front of it was a fan and floating above it were two power formation monitors.

"Ok. I know _I_ gotta take the lead now, but what do I do?" Twister asked. The rest of the trio gave a confused look at the fan. They tried to think of a solution to their problem, but nothing came up. Soon, Sam came across a hint ring that was by the fan.

"Hmmmm… Let's see." He reached out towards the ring. It disappeared and a piece of paper appeared in his hands. He opened it and started reading the comic that was on it.

Pictured in the first panel was a stick figure drawing of the fox, echidna, and hedgehog. They were in power formation and standing in front of a fan much like the one their real life counterparts were standing in front of. The second panel had the trio floating over the fan. They were separate and looked completely disoriented. They also had frowns on their faces. The third panel had them flying high above the fan. They were holding each other's hands, allowing them to get in a triangle formation. It seemed to resemble a position multiple people take while skydiving. They had grins on their faces. Under the comic were the words. "Triangle Dive." Sam put down the paper and turned to his teammates, who were giving him a curious look.

"So what does it say, Squid?" Otto asked.

"It's a move for Twister." Sam started. "We have to jump over the fan and hang on to each other so that we can glide up over the wall."

"Then why is it mine?" Twister asked. The fox shrugged.

"I guess it's because you can glide. Also, you can control where we go."

"Whaddya think, Otto?" Twister asked, turning to their leader, who gave a shrug of his own.

"It sounds weird, but then again, a lot of weird stuff has happened so far." He grinned. "Let's go for it!" The others grinned as well.

"Alright!" Twister cheered, jumping over the fan. Otto and Sam followed suit. They floated above it and spun around.

"Ugh… I'm getting dizzy again…" The fox groaned, holding his mouth.

"Hold your hurl and grab on!" Otto ordered.

Sam swallowed hard as he held out his hands. Twister grabbed his right hand while Otto held his left one. The hedgehog and echidna then reached out towards each other with their free hands. They grabbed on and were sent up over the wall. They glided over to another wall.

"Alright Squid! Take the lead!" The hedgehog said to the fox, who had his face buried in his air sickness bag.

"Ugh… Right…" He said when he was through.

They got into fly formation and went over the wall. Now a couple of coconut pawns and a door were ahead of them.

"Quick! Use that thunder move of yours!" Twister said.

Sam brought his foot back and used Thunder Shoot, kicking Otto in the process. The electrified hedgehog crashed into the robots, paralyzing them. Twister quickly let go of Sam and ran up to the robots. Before they could recover, he punched them both out.

"Awesome job!" Otto complimented as he walked up to his best bro. "Now, do ya think you can take care of the door?"

"Sure."

Twister, still feeling the adrenaline from the last attack, charged towards the door and punched it open with his bare fists. He then delivered a mighty roar.

"I am Twister! Hear me roar!" Sam and Otto sweatdropped at that proclamation.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiighhhhhhhhhhht…"

Anyway… The echidna stomped into the newly revealed hall, followed by his teammates, who were scared for their lives. They encountered two coconut pawns, which Twister wasted no time decimating. When he finished, he was covered in oil much like when he was working on the Twister. Sam and Otto blinked at the now-black echidna, who was snarling.

"Uhhh… Twister?" Sam tried. The echidna turned to him, bearing his teeth. He gave the fox a cold glare.

"Yeah?" He growled.

"Stop it." The fox simply said.

"Ok." Twister replied, standing straight up and dropping the act. Otto fell over as the echidna proceeded to clean the oil off himself.

"Hey Otto." Sam called.

"Ugh… Yeah?" Otto asked as he got up. Sam pointed near the wall. A red power core was lying there. "Yes!" The hedgehog shouted, pumping his fist. He grabbed it and got his second level-up. Twister got most of the oil off himself as he walked back to the others. There were still some black spots present.

"Ok. Let's go." He said.

"Uhhh guys, which way do we go?" Sam asked.

"Huh?" Otto and Twister asked. The fox pointed ahead in response. The path ahead split in two. The left path went high over a wall while the right one went down a hill. Over the left path was a fly formation signal. A speed signal was floating over the right path.

"Well, it's pretty obvious." The hedgehog scoffed.

"Right." Sam nodded. "It's the only sensible choice."

"We'll go right/left!" They both said. Sam said "left" while Otto said "right." Twister sweatdropped. The other two's eyes widened when they realized what the other said.

"What!?" They both glared at each other.

"We're taking the speed route, Squid!" Otto roared.

"No way! The fly route is better!" Sam protested.

"The speed route is faster, hence the name!"

"The fly route is higher, so it's safer. Haven't you played any video games?!" Otto glared at the fox.

"You know I don't!"

(Me: You really should. They're a great release after a hard day of work.)

"BUTT OUT!!!" They both roared, looking up. They then faced each other.

"I'm the leader and I say speed!"

"Well, _I'm_ the smartest one out of all three of us and I say fly!"

"Speed!" Otto shouted.

"Fly!" Sam retorted.

"Speed!"

"Fly!"

"Speed!"

"Fly!"

"Speed!"

"Fly!"

"Speed!"

"Fly!"

"HOLD IT!!!" Twister interjected, getting in between them. "Let's just flip for it!" He took out a quarter. "Call for it." He flicked it into the air.

"Tails!" Sam called.

(A/N: Bonus points to anyone who gets this obvious pun.)

The coin plummeted and landed on…

"Aw man!" Otto shouted, stomping the ground. He sulked as he faced Sam, who was looking pretty smug. "Ok… Take the lead…"

"Gladly." Sam said with a smirk.

The trio got into fly formation and flew up the wall. When they got on the path, they noticed that it was a winding, grassy road that was littered with many gold rings, as well as some huge spiked balls.

"The fly route is safer, huh?" The hedgehog said, glaring up at the fox, who sweatdropped.

"Look on the bright side. At least we found some treasure."

"Come on! Let's pick 'em up!" Twister shouted.

The trio hovered along the path, picking up rings and avoiding the balls. When they were halfway through, a beeping sound filled the air. Sam looked at his watch and grinned. Displayed on it were three circles that were arranged in an upside down triangle. At the upper left was an orange circle that seemed to have fire at the end. The top right circle was red and had what seemed to be a gust of wind at the end. Finally, at the bottom was a yellow circle that had a lightning bolt at the end.

"Hey! We just filled up our Team Blast meter!" The fox said to his friends, who grinned.

"Alright Squid!" Twister shouted. Sam gave Otto a smirk. The hedgehog growled as he looked away.

"I guess you were right Sam…" The fox's grin widened.

"Thanks." He simply said. The trio reached the end of the path and found themselves near a stone door. A coconut pawn armed with a lance was guarding it.

"Guess I'm up!" Twister said as they touched down. They went into power formation.

"Yeah. Just don't go crazy again." Otto said. The echidna rolled his eyes.

"Just follow my lead!" He charged towards the lone robot. Otto and Sam shrugged at each other and followed suit.

Twister grabbed Otto, jumped, and used Fire Dunk to take out the robot. While Otto was stumbling around dizzily, the orange one punched open the door. The hedgehog shook his head and followed his teammates through the door. Just barely beyond the door was a long, narrow chasm. A red balloon was floating near the end. There didn't seem to be any way across it. A speed signal was above it.

"So how do we get across?" Twister asked. Sam spied a hint ring nearby and grabbed it. A piece of paper appeared in his hands. He proceeded to read it.

Pictured in the first panel of the comic was a stick figure drawing of the team in speed formation. The second panel had them jumping towards a narrow canyon like the one they were at. The last panel featured everyone using a homing attack and jumping from wall to wall. Under the comic were the words, "Triangle Jump."

"Ok. Otto, you have to take the lead. Jump towards one of the walls and use your homing attack." Sam explained.

"Alright…" Otto said, nodding. He jumped towards the right wall and used his homing attack. He shot towards it and clung to it. He grinned. "Hey! It works!"

He jumped off the wall and homing attacked the left one. Sam and Twister followed as the hedgehog jumped from wall to wall while going forward. Just before the chasm ended, Otto hit the balloon, giving him his last level-up for the moment. The trio hopped off the wall and found themselves standing before a couple of jump pads.

They skated up to them and were sent flying over an expanse of water. In the middle of the jump, they hit some rainbow rings, propelling them over some enemies and towards a power formation gate. They crossed it and switched into the previously mentioned formation. They skated up to a fan that was by a wall.

"Ready to go flying again, Squid?" Twister said with a smirk. Sam held his stomach, already feeling himself getting sick again. He quickly got over it as he shook his head.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Which is never. Bust!" Otto teased. He and Twister gave a taunting laugh while Sam looked away, his face reddening in embarrassment.

"Come on. Let's go." Twister said.

All three of them jumped over the fan and linked hands, performing their Triangle Dive. They soared high up over the wall. The team noticed some coconut pawns patrolling the area, as well as a couple more fans that were close to each other. Another balloon was floating near a ledge.

"Hey, if we keep gliding, we can avoid those robots." Sam said.

"Then let's go for it!" Otto commanded.

They glided over to the first fan and ascended again. Before getting to the next fan, they hit the balloon, allowing Twister to get another level-up. They landed on the ledge in front of a speed formation gate. They crossed it and skated down a hill with Otto taking the lead again.

"Hey Squid, good call back there!" Twister said. Sam looked back at him with a small grin.

"Thanks!" He replied before looking ahead.

The path winded to the left and then the right as they skated. When they reached the bottom, they passed through a power formation gate, making Twister take the lead again. A piece of ruin that was providing an arch fell in their way.

"Hey! We don't have time for you!" Twister yelled, bringing back a fist. He punched through the piece of stone. The trio now found themselves at the foot of a flight of stairs. Standing guard were two coconut pawns, each with a lance. The echidna grinned.

"Ok you guys," He said to Otto and Sam. "Let's get ready to do Fire Dunk!"

"Ok! But you better not be so rough about it!" Otto yelled, remembering that unexpected attack a minute or so ago. He and Sam jumped into Twister's hands and spun around. The echidna jumped up and tossed both of them at the robots, destroying them.

"Man! I never get tired of that!" He yelled happily. "It's fun!"

"For who?" Otto muttered as he and Sam rejoined the current leader.

They were about to run up the stairs when something crashed into Twister, causing him to drop their rings!

"Huh?" Sam and Otto said.

They turned nervously to see what damaged their friend. It was a third coconut pawn! It loomed over them with its lance drawn, getting ready to attack.

"_Kill._" It droned. Sam looked shaken, but Otto was unnerved, feeling rage for his fallen comrade.

"Actually, I'm still alive." Twister said, getting up.

(Me: Shaddap! You're ruining the mood!)

"You hurt my best bro…" The hedgehog started, glaring daggers at the grinning robot. "YOU'LL PAY!!!"

He jumped up and hit it repeatedly with his homing attack. The robot was destroyed after the first hit, but Otto didn't stop there. He kept attacking it until all the pieces were dust (though how the hell he managed to turn metal into dust eludes me). The hedgehog breathed hard and turned to his friend.

"You alright, Twist?"

"Yeah." The orange one nodded. "Let's go. I still gotta open that door." He pointed at the top of the staircase, where Sam was standing. A stone door was present. Otto gave him an unsure look.

"You sure you're ok?"

"Don't worry! It'll take more than some stupid robot to stop _me_!" He yelled proudly, pointing to himself. Otto smirked and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good. C'mon!"

He ran up to the door. Twister grinned and followed. He punched open the door, revealing a loop and three coconut pawns. Using Fire Dunk, the echidna took care of them quickly.

"Ok Ottoman, you're up!"

"Right! Follow me guys!" Otto said, skating towards the loop. Sam gulped as he and Twister followed.

Like the one they came across earlier, this loop went in two directions. Unlike the last one though, they all took the right side. Just as they left the loop, the hedgehog grabbed an item bubble. Instantly, a rainbow-like aura surrounded them. They skidded to a stop.

"What's with you and rainbows?" Twister asked, looking up.

(Izzy: He's a pansy! What else?!

::WHAM!::

Me: ::Leans against my mallet:: Idiot! Anyway, it's not _my_ fault! That's how the game goes!)

"So what _is_ this, anyway?" Sam asked.

(Me: You lectured Otto on playing video games a little while ago and you don't know?)

Sam shrugged.

(Me: ::Slaps my head:: Whatever. You're now invincible. You can't get attacked for the few seconds that aura covers you.)

"Cool! Come on! Let's go before it ends!" Otto yelled, skating forward. His teammates followed.

They hit a boost pad and then a jump pad. They shot out over the ocean towards a group of giant sea turtles that were carrying great blocks of stone on their shells. They were all swimming across the sea to another part of the palace.

"Giant sea turtles? Oliver would have a field day classifying these, not to mention the whales we saw earlier." Sam commented as they landed on one of the reptiles.

"Never mind that Squid! We gotta keep going!" Twister said. He walked towards the checkpoint that was nearby and got his final level-up.

Otto took the lead again as they walked up to a cannon. Floating near it was a signal for all three formations. On the left was the power signal, in the center was the speed signal, and the fly one was on the right.

"What's up with this?" The hedgehog asked, turning to Sam.

"I guess we'll get shot in whichever direction we're facing depending on our formation." The fox answered.

"Whatever. Let's go!" Otto jumped inside, followed by his teammates. The cannon shot them forward.

They sailed over the water and landed on another turtle. This one had two flappers on it. Also, a case that contained another cannon was present. Using his homing attack, Otto took care of them with no problem. The case lowered, revealing the cannon.

"I guess beating robots will open those cages for us, huh?" Twister said.

"Duh!" The leader said.

They all jumped in the cannon. As their invincibility ended, they were shot towards a pillar on a turtle's shell. There was a spring there, which sent them to another turtle. On it were three coconut pawns. One of them had a lance, but all of them were holding a shield made of stone.

"I think you better take care of this, Twister." Sam said.

"Right!" Twister replied, taking command again. He used Fire Dunk on one of the robots, but the attack only chipped off part of the shield. "Oh man! I can't knock 'em out til we get rid of those shields!" They jumped away when the robots started charging.

"Maybe we could try blowing them off!" Sam suggested.

"How?!" The others asked.

"Try using your Rocket Twister, Otto!"

"Hey, good idea!" Otto said, jumping up. He used his wind technique on the closest robot, which happened to be the one with the lance.

Due to the high winds stirred up by the one in the dome helmet, it dropped its shield. The hedgehog smirked evilly as he attacked the other robots in a similar fashion. They both dropped their shields after getting attacked. The trio quickly switched to power formation and took care of the bots with a few well-placed punches. They skated up to the nearby jump pad and were sent to another turtle. _This_ one had a coconut pawn with a shield and gun standing by some metal crates in a corner. Floating above it was a flapper that also had a gun.

"We better take care of that flying robot first." Sam said.

They switched to fly formation and knocked the flapper down with Thunder Shoot. Before it could recover from its paralysis, they switched to speed formation and attacked with a homing attack. Otto then used Rocket Twister to knock off the coconut pawn's shield. Twister took the lead and punched out the robot while it stumbled around. They then used the nearby jump pad to get to the last turtle before the rest of the palace. They were instantly ambushed by three coconut pawns that had lances. The middle one had a shield.

"Pfft! Piece of cake!" Otto scoffed. He used his wind attack to knock off the middle one's shield.

During the attack, he destroyed the robot on the left, making it drop a yellow power core. While the hedgehog and echidna took care of the other two bots, Sam grabbed the core, giving himself another level-up. They switched to fly formation and took care of a flapper that was floating on a piece of ruin between two cages, each containing springs. The cages lowered, allowing the group to use them. They bounced off the left spring and landed on a higher platform. They switched to speed formation and hit the jump pad that was placed there.

"Ohhhhh yeah!" Otto cheered as they flew through the air and landed inside the palace in front of a checkpoint. Beyond that were three spring bars that were lying against the wall.

"Let _me_ grab it!" Sam shouted at them.

"Go ahead." Otto said with a shrug.

"Yeah. We don't need the level-up, remember?" Twister said. Sam sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh yeah… Heh, heh…" He hit the checkpoint and got his last level-up.

They then skated up to one of the spring bars and were sent over the wall. Awaiting them were five coconut pawns. Since they didn't have any shields, Otto took the initiative and destroyed them with a few homing attacks. The team skated to the right and up a small incline. At the top, a piece of ruin fell to their right. It didn't even come close to hitting them.

"Hey Squid, I think we can take a shortcut up there." Twister said, pointing at a ledge.

"Sounds good to me." Otto said. Sam nodded in agreement.

"Ok. Hang on!"

They got into fly formation and went up to the ledge. Situated near a wall at the end were three flappers. A green one with a gun was floating between two red ones. Before the green one can fire, Sam kicked Otto and Twister at them, destroying them. When his friends came back to him, the fox flew up the wall, where the path was blocked off by a couple of stone blocks.

After Twister punched them out, they skated to the left towards a spring bar. They then bounced up and wound up floating over a fan. They used Triangle Dive to glide up to another ledge, where four stone blocks were blocking the way. The echidna punched them out of the way, revealing a jump pad. After using the pad to get across a chasm and punching open the nearby door, the team found themselves in front of a narrow chasm.

"I'm up now!" Otto yelled, taking the lead.

They used Triangle Jump to get across it. When they reached the other side, they bounced up a spring bar. They landed on a ledge that had an arching ruin at the end.

"Hmmmmm…" The hedgehog hummed thoughtfully, looking at the path and then at the ruin. He turned to his friends with a smirk. "I think we can beat it." Sam and Twister gasped.

"Otto, don't…!" Sam said fearfully.

"No way, bro! There's no way we can make it!" Twister protested.

"Come on! Don't be a bunch of lame-os! Let's go!" Otto yelled, skating forward. The others protested, but the hedgehog wouldn't listen. Seeing no other way to stop him, they followed, speeding up.

Otto lowered his body to fight wind resistance. The fox and echidna followed suit. The pillars holding up the piece of ruin started to crumble as if detecting their movements. Before the piece of ruin could fall on our heroes, they rolled under it! The hedgehog cheered while the other two were panting, thanking God they weren't pancakes.

"See!? What'd I tell you? We got through that with no problem!" Otto bragged, puffing out his chest.

"If I wasn't…so tired…I'd punch your lights…out…" Sam panted to himself.

"Ditto…" Twister muttered. They soon caught their breaths and moved on.

Ahead of them were some ruins that were arranged like stairs. A checkpoint was on the second step while a spring was on the third step. They hit the checkpoint and then the spring. The trio was catapulted up a few air rings and over a giant rock wheel. It had spikes on its sides as well as an extremely scary face on it. The team ignored it as they landed in front of it.

"Hey! I can see the goal ring!" Otto said.

At the bottom of a long—And I mean LONG!—hill was the glowing ring of great gold. It was at the top of a long flight of stairs. After a small loop was a jump pad that would allow them to continue on.

"Finally! The end of the stage!" Sam cheered.

"And it looks like there won't be any trouble!" Twister said happily. "Just a loop and a couple of jumps and we're done!"

"It seems…anticlimactic though…" Otto said with a sigh. "Let's just finish it…" He sighed again before skating down the decline. Sam and Twister followed after him with weirded out looks. They've never heard their leader talk like that before.

What they didn't notice though was the face on the rock wheel. It glowed a bright crimson.

The team was boredly skating down the hill towards the loop when a low rumble was heard by Twister.

"Huh?" He asked, looking back. His eyes widened as he gasped. He turned and tapped Sam on the shoulder.

"What is it, Twist?" The fox asked, not looking back.

"B-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-b-big…" Twister stuttered. He tried to form the rest of his sentence to no avail.

"Twister, I don't have time for this. I was just thinking about something when you disturbed me." Sam said.

"Sq-sq-sq-sq-squid… I think you may want to see th-th-th-this…" The echidna said in a frantic tone.

"Twister! For the last time—!" Sam stopped when he took a look back. His eyes bulged out, nearly breaking the lenses of his glasses. He quickly faced ahead. "OTTO!!!"

"Ok, _what_ are you two going on about now?!" The hedgehog yelled, looking back. His eyes grew wide as saucers.

**A GIANT ROCK WHEEL WAS CHASING AFTER THEM!!!**

Otto sweatdropped.

"Oh. That."

He put on a totally placid face as he turned around. He took a deep breath.

"**SKATE FOR YOUR LIVES!!!**"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" They all screamed as they fled at full speed.

They were nearing the loop.

"If we can hit that jump pad, we'll be safe!" Sam yelled.

"Hurry up!" Twister shouted.

They all hit a boost pad and went over the loop. They then hit the jump pad, propelling them across the chasm. The trio sighed with relief as they flew through the air over the huge drop.

"Whew… We should be safe now." Otto said.

"Uhhh… Better think again, Ottoman…" Twister corrected, looking back. The others look as well and gasped.

The wheel _also_ went across the loop and jumped over the chasm!!!

"What the hell, Squid!?" Otto roared. Sam shrugged.

"Guess I miscalculated?" He said sheepishly.

"Nice going, Squid!" Twister scolded.

"Shut up and shred!" Otto panicked.

They landed and blazed onward. The rock wheel landed and followed after them. The trio hit a boost pad and were sent ahead. They skated down a little farther before the rumbling sound grew louder. Twister knew he was going to regret it, but he looked back anyway.

**ANOTHER** rock wheel joined the chase!!!

"Oh crap! There's _another_ one!"

"_Two_ rocks!?!" Sam screamed.

"Keep going!" Otto yelled.

They hit another boost pad and started going right. The rock wheels got closer to them.

"OhGod! OhGod! OhGod! OhGod!" Twister chanted. "I'mgonnadie! I'mgonnadie! I'mgonnadie! I'mgonnadie!"

"Shut up Twister!!!" Otto and Sam screamed.

They got a little farther when a _third_ one entered the fray! The path winded some more as they hit boost pad after boost pad. Despite the fact they were clearly blasting ahead, the wheels followed closer than ever! The fox gasped and held his side.

"Having…an…attack…!" He wheezed. "Have to…stop…!"

"If you stop, it's over!" Otto shouted. "We're almost there!"

"Keep moving, Sammy! If you stop, _I'm_ done for too!" Twister added. The fox screwed his eyes shut as he skated forward, spinning his tails weakly.

The trio of wheels was practically on top of them when they finally reached a jump pad.

"Woah!" Twister yelled as they flew.

The rock wheels followed. They were too heavy and thus crashed into the side of the palace with tremendous force.

"We made it!" Otto cheered as they all landed at the foot of the stairs. Sam kneeled.

"Whoo…hoo…" He coughed, grabbing his asthma medicine. He pressed down on the button and inhaled greedily. A few minutes passed before he recomposed himself.

"You ok, Squid?" Twister asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Sam panted a bit as he nodded.

"Yeah…"

"Sorry about what happened back there, Sam, but you had to keep going." Otto said. "You woulda gotten crushed. Can you go on?" The fox nodded as he stood up shakily.

"Yeah. It'll take more than a bunch of giant wheels to stop _me_!" He pointed at himself. They all grinned as they did their trademark handshake.

"Come on. Let's end this stage!" Twister said.

They all walked up the stairs and grabbed the goal ring. It disappeared and the doors that were ahead opened, revealing a beach area.

"Must be a path out of here." Otto hypothesized.

"Or it could be a trap." Sam said.

"We won't know til we try, so let's go!" Twister shouted, skating forward. The others followed.

They went along a bridge that stretched a great distance. Many statues lined up on either side. Some were shaped like fish while others were as big as whales. They skated for some time before they heard the whirl of engines. They skidded to a stop.

"What's that?!" Otto yelled over the noise. It started to grow louder.

"I don't know, but it's getting closer, whatever it is!" Sam replied.

"Here it comes!" Twister added.

A strange flying machine flew backwards over their heads and hovered a couple of feet off the ground ahead of them. It was red and shaped like a bird. Two rotors made up the wings of the machine. On each of its talons was a coconut pawn that was in charge of a gun. At the head was another gun.

And sitting at the helm of this hovercraft was…

"Muahahahahaha!!! So _you're_ the ones who were disrupting my plans here!" A male voice said. "No matter. I, Dr. Coconutman, will end this here!" Team Rocket gasped. He sounded extremely familiar to them. They got a closer look at the pilot of the machine.

"It can't be!" Sam gasped upon recognizing the figure.

"It's him!" Otto added.

"Woah! You mean Dr. Coconutman is…" Twister started.

"**MR. STIMPLETON!?!**" They all exclaimed.

Unlike the trio, Merv was human. He was wearing a white lab coat. He was also wearing a brown hat over his brown hair, which there was a small amount of. He was wearing a small pair of glasses that didn't even come close to covering his eyes.

"I should've known it was _you_!" Otto shouted with great rage. "Who else would want to destroy all the skate parks in the world!?"

"Hahahahahahaha!!! So I see you got my letter." The doctor said.

"Duh! Why else would we be out here!?" Twister retorted, crossing his arms.

"But why?" Sam asked. Dr. Coconutman laughed evilly.

"That's easy. With all the skate parks of the world destroyed, you little hooligans won't be making anymore noise! Hahahahahaha!!!"

"Puh-lease!" Otto scoffed. "Remember the last time you tried to stop us from skating?"

"Please, don't remind me." Merv groaned, holding his head. "I still have the headache from that ordeal." The doctor shook his head and glowered at the trio. "In any case, you won't have to worry about having nothing to do when I destroy your _precious_ skate parks. I'll turn them all into polka dance halls! Muahahahahahaha!!!" The animals gasped at that.

"You sick, twisted monster!" Twister shouted, shaking a fist at him.

"Of all the things to turn them into…" Sam said, shaking his head. Otto glared at Merv.

"You'll have to destroy _us_ first!" He challenged. The mad doctor grinned as he gripped the controls of his ship.

"Gladly!"

**BOSS BATTLE!**

**COCONUT HAWK**

As the battle began, Coconutman flew his ship backwards while firing at our heroes. The trio dodged the bullets while skating forward, grabbing rings that were floating in rows. The Coconut Hawk's wings destroyed some of the passing ruins as it flew farther and farther away.

"Get back here!" Otto roared.

"Man! He's fast!" Twister yelled.

"At least we're getting plenty of gold. We'll be rich!" Sam cheered.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this!" Otto shouted at him. "Now come on! He stopped!"

Indeed, Coconutman _did_ stop. He was in the middle of a circular beach. Many flappers were present on the perimeter. The trio dodged some more bullets as they reached the arena.

"Begin rotary attack!" Dr. Coconutman ordered. The craft started spinning around, shooting at our heroes.

"Quick Squid! Take the lead!" Otto commanded.

"Right!" Sam replied, jumping up. Otto grabbed his hands while Twister grabbed Otto's feet.

The fox used Thunder Shoot on the closest coconut pawn, paralyzing it. Sam kicked his friends at the rotors, freezing them with electricity.

"I got this!" Twister said, taking the lead. He grabbed Otto and Sam and jumped.

Using Fire Dunk, he managed to put the right rotor out of commission. The left rotor was unfrozen, allowing the doctor to make his escape. The trio switched into speed formation and followed.

"You won't get away!" Otto shouted.

They skated along another bridge, collecting more rings, when they came across some coconut pawns. They charged towards the trio with lances drawn.

"Outta the way!" Twister yelled.

He punched them out and allowed Otto to take the lead again. The leader used his homing attack to take care of a couple more robots. They started coming across another row of rings when the hedgehog decided to bring up an interesting point.

"Hey Squid!"

"Yeah?" Sam asked, dodging some bullets.

"You never told me. What do the magnets on my skates do?"

"The magnets?" Sam blinked. "Oh! The magnets! They allow you to go through rows of rings."

"Like those?" The hedgehog flicked a thumb at the incoming row of gold. The fox nodded.

"Exactly. It's called 'the Light Speed Dash.'" Otto grinned at the name.

"Cool! See ya!"

"Otto, wait!" Sam yelled, but it was too late. The hedgehog skated up to the first ring and blazed through them at an impossible speed. Sam and Twister were pulled along.

"Yes! It works!" Otto cheered as he skated at a normal speed. Unfortunately, the fox and echidna crashed into him, sending all of them skidding along the path. The hedgehog glared at them. "What's the deal!?"

"I tried to tell you." Sam started as they all got up. "Due to the slipstream you create, we get pulled along too when you use the Light Speed Dash. You gotta keep going; otherwise we'll crash into you." Otto scowled harder at him.

"Incoming!" Twister yelled, pointing forward. The Coconut Hawk was heading towards them! The leader got into a fighting pose.

"When he gets close enough, jump, and we'll get a clean shot with my homing attack."

"Right!" The others agreed.

Coconutman was a few feet away when they jumped and shot towards him as balls. They crashed into the cockpit repeatedly, damaging the machine badly.

"Ugh! Annoying pests!" Merv groaned, reversing his craft.

The chase continued for a few moments more before they all reached another beach. The Coconut Hawk was still in the air so the trio couldn't reach him. Instead, they concentrated on the flappers that were nearby. They took care of a couple before Coconutman continued going over the bridge.

"Man! Stay still already!" Twister complained.

They chased the mad doctor over the bridge, using Otto's light speed dash every so often. When they got through the third row of rings, Sam's watch beeped.

"Our Team Blast meter's fully charged guys!" He informed.

"Prefect timing!" Otto said. "All we gotta do is get close enough to Merv and we got this thing won!"

"Yeah!" Twister added.

They got a few feet farther when they ran into some more coconut pawns. The team paused to take of them.

"Ha! I got you now!" Coconutman laughed evilly. He piloted his machine towards them.

"Woah! Here he comes, guys!" Twister said after punching out the robots. Otto smirked.

"Good. Stand your ground dudes!" The Coconut Hawk soon loomed over them, getting ready to fire. "Now! Rocket Overdrive!"

Twister grabbed Sam's legs and started swinging him, but not before the fox grabbed Otto's legs. The echidna let go of Sam, who followed suit with Otto. The yellow one then brought his foot back and crashed it into Otto. The hedgehog spun into a ball and flew all over Coconutman's ship, blasting it with the electricity provided by Sam's kick. When he ended his attack, he flipped and landed firmly on the ground. Merv was still airborne though!

"No way! It didn't beat him?!" All three of them exclaimed as the doctor flew away. Both of his rotors were smoking.

"No! Both rotors are gone!" He cursed, firing at the furries, who resumed the chase.

"Come on, Otto! If we hurry, we can still get him with your light speed attack!" Sam said. Otto nodded.

"Right!"

They went through a couple of rows of rings and caught up to Merv. Before the meter could run out, Otto jumped and used his light speed attack. He bounced all over the ship, causing more damage. As the meter finally ran out, small explosions lit up all over the craft. The hedgehog jumped away and landed on the bridge. He and his teammates watched as the Coconut Hawk spun out of control.

"Nooooo!!! I'm going down!" Dr. Coconutman panicked. Before the ship can crash into a sandbar, he blasted out of it inside his smaller, gray hovercraft. He shook a fist at Team Rocket. "This isn't the end, you little hooligans! Not by a long shot!" He flew away. The trio sighed and turned to each other with wide grins.

"Woogie! Woogie! Woogie!" They cheered at their victory.

"We did it! We beat him!" Twister said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, but it's not over yet bro!" Otto said. "Something tells me we got a long way to go before we put a stop to him." The echidna nodded.

"Hey guys! Take a look at this!" Sam shouted. He was standing at the sandbar by the downed Coconut Hawk. Otto and Twister skated up to them.

"What'd you find Squid?" Twister asked. The fox bent down and pulled a glowing object from the sand. It was a red gemstone. It glimmered brightly in the sunlight. The trio marveled at the sight.

"Woah…" They all said in awe.

"Cool diamond." Otto said.

"It looks kinda like the Master Emerald, only smaller." Twister commented. Sam nodded.

"If I'm right, then we really found something. This may be a Chaos Emerald." The hedgehog and echidna gave him a questioning look.

"'Chaos Emerald?'" They repeated.

"Yeah. There are seven of them in all. According to legend, whoever has all of them can become powerful beyond belief. Of course, it's only a legend, so it's probably not true." Sam explained.

"Well, if it's not, at least we got a cool souvenir." Otto said, stepping back. "C'mon. We're wasting daylight."

"Yeah. The Mervinator's gonna unleash that weapon of his soon." Twister agreed.

"Yeah. And we gotta stop him!" Otto skated away followed by Twister.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Sam yelled after them. He put away the chaos emerald and followed after them, spinning his tails.

------------------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

"What the hell!?!" Izzy roared at me. "_Mr. Stimpleton?!_ _He's_ playing as Dr. Robotnik!?!"

"Yep." I nodded.

"But, but WHY?!" He shouted, his mouth agape. "That makes zero sense!"

"Oh it makes sense alright!" I retorted.

"Oh really?" He challenged. "Well, I hope you plan on explaining it! Those so-called clues could _not_ have pointed to Merv!"

"Well they did!"

"But what about the intro!? At the end, ya said that the guy playing as Ivo was fat! What about Tito!? You hinted at _him_ playing as Robotnik in the intro to Race Across Rainbows!"

"So I hinted at it." I shrugged. "It doesn't mean I _have_ to make him play as Ivo. Besides, I didn't _just_ say that the one playing as the doctor had to be fat. He had to also be smart, have technical know-how, and hate kids! While he's fat and has wisdom (proven by his many quotes from the ancient Hawaiians), Tito is far from having technical know-how and he sure as hell doesn't hate kids! He sees them everyday! Not to mention if I made Tito human, it wouldn't have made sense that Keoni and Noelani were cats. I couldn't make Tito play as Ivo!"

"Well, what about Oliver?" Izzy started. "_He's_ smart and has technical know-how!"

"But he's not fat, is he?" I countered. "Also, he can't hate kids because—and here's the thing—HE'S A KID!!!"

"Oh yeah…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Forgot that part. But still, he could always plot to destroy all the skate parks!"

"Are you crazy!?! He skates! Not well, I'll admit, but he skates!"

"Oops…"

"Man, you must be out of it today, huh?" I remarked, only to have him pull out his mallet.

"I'm warning you. Don't make me use this." He growled. I only rolled my eyes at him.

"Whatever. So, anything else you wanna throw at me?"

"What about that one kid…?" He leaned against his mallet, trying to think. "You know who I'm talking about. That kid in that one game…" I held a finger to my chin, trying to figure out who he was talking about. I blinked before snapping my fingers.

"Do you mean Eric Golem Jr.?"

"Yeah, that's it! Why couldn't he play as Robotnik!? He's evil and he's got an army of robots!" I prepared to speak. "And don't give me that crap about how he's a kid and not fat! If he could come close to destroying Ocean Shores with an artificial tidal wave, I _think_ he'd try to take over the world!"

"Hmph! For one thing, how many people actually played Beach Bandits?" I started. "If I was gonna use _him_, I might as well have had _you_ play as Ivo instead 'cause hardly anybody would know who I'm talking about! Besides, he's in military school!" (Don't quote me on that. It's been a long time since I beat that game) "How would he have escaped?"

"Call in some robots to bust him out?" Izzy offered with a shrug. I opened my mouth to yell at him when I closed it and sighed.

"Good point. Still, I wanted an adult to play as Dr. Robotnik."

"Ugh…" The hedgehog slapped his forehead again. "So what was that riddle in Chapter Three about?"

"It was a reference to the game, 'Rocket Power: Dream Scheme.'" I answered. "In it, Otto and the others had to beat Merv, who was trying to turn Ocean Shores into a polka resort."

"Well _that_ explains where that polka thing came from before the battle started." Izzy commented. "So what about the rest of it? Ya know, the kidnapping bit, the mind control thing, and the other two parts you mentioned."

"In the game, Merv had kidnapped most of the citizens and you had to free them. The old geezer even captured his own _wife_! You also had to fight through robots and people and monkeys that the old man had control of."

"And the part about everything taking place in Otto's mind?"

"The whole thing was a dream." I replied. "Caused by eating too many hot wings."

"Oh… I guess it all _did_ make sense then…" Izzy sighed in defeat. "There's one thing I don't get though. Why did you name him Dr. Coconutman for? The name just _screamed_ Tito."

"Well, the monkeys in Dream Scheme tossed coconuts at you. I guess it just clicked." I turned to the camera. "Anyway, it seems that Otto and friends have found one of the mystical Chaos Emeralds! What will the presence of the jewel bring? And what about the other three teams? Will they be able to fulfill their various goals? Tune in next time!"


	8. A Trek through the City, Pt 1

Pre-chapter Conversation

We open this conversation in Izzy's room, which was across the hall from the studio. The walls were painted red. The shag carpet was beige. A bed that wasn't made was standing on the left side. Across from it was a dresser that had a TV on it. On the wall by the door was a dart board that had a picture of Sam's human form tacked on it. Several darts were stuck in the middle of it. On the nightstand was a lamp, as well as pictures of Keoni? A computer was stationed on a desk near the far wall by the bed.

::SLAM!::

"That stupid nerd!" The hedgehog cursed as he kicked the door open and stepped inside. "I can't believe I lost to him, AGAIN!!!" He slammed the door and stomped back and forth.

"How the hell does that fat ass beat me _every_ time!?!" He ranted as he paced around. "First he beats me in a pokémon battle, then at Double Dash! Now he beats me again!?! This has to end!" He walked towards the dart board and pulled out the darts.

"There has to be _something_ I can beat him at!"

He tossed the first dart, which connected with the blond's nose. A bull's eye.

"But what!?"

He threw the next one. That one hit Sam's left eye.

"What the hell do you challenge a nerd to!?!"

He lobbed the third dart, which hit his rival's chest.

"It can't be something that requires mental prowess. _That_ has been made all too clear already."

He pitched the fourth one, hitting the bull's eye again.

"Then something physical. But I can't skate on normal blades to save my life, so that's out."

Dart number five hit Sam's left eye.

"And surfing's out since the boss hasn't made me do that yet." He turned to the camera. "And no, surfing with Keoni doesn't count." He turned back to the board and tossed the next one.

Number six got the bull's eye.

"Same goes for snowboarding."

The seventh one hit blond hair.

"Maybe I can race him." He got ready to toss his last dart when he gasped. "Or maybe…" He paused in mid-throw and grinned.

"I can _fight_ him!" Izzy laughed evilly as the dart landed square between the eyes. "That's it! I can duel him! Fists at dawn! He won't know what hit him, especially since the boss let me keep the powers I had when we were in the Sonic dimension."

Red energy glowed within his fists as he floated a few inches off the ground.

"All I gotta do now is write the letter and then mail it! Muahahahahaha!!!"

"_Izzy!_" My voice called over the P.A. system.

"What?!" The hedgehog shouted, ending the display of power.

"_I'm a little busy, so I need you to tell the readers what the next chapter is about._"

"Ugh! Fine!" Izzy groaned, crossing his arms as he turned to the camera. "For the first part of this chapter, we're gonna follow Team Rodriguez, who's entered a city that's technologically advanced compared to Ocean Shores. Lucky for you guys, this chapter is gonna be short, or at least as short as that idiot can make a chapter.

"Can Clio, Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese find Otto, Froggy, and Chocola? Most likely not, but enjoy the chapter anyway. Oh yeah! Don't forget, sometimes the characters will talk about things they did in previous stages. Just pretend they went through the last area, which in a sense, they did. The boss just didn't do commentary for them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be plotting my vengeance against a certain geek."

The camera faded to black as he walked over to his desk and grabbed a pen and pencil.

---------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Six

A Trek through the City

Part One

**Stage Three: Grand Metropolis**

**Mission****: Get through the slightly futuristic city!**

"Are you sure that dork is here, lame-o?!" Mackenzie demanded.

She, Cheese, Clio, and Keoni were standing (floating in Cheese's case) on a roof top in a huge city that was just outside Los Angeles. Flying cars soared through the air. Ahead, across a wide expanse, was a path made of a sort of turquoise energy. Among the tall buildings were huge smokestacks and energy tanks as well as logos that displayed the name of a company called "HEXAeco."

The furries were wearing their skating gear. Mackenzie's ears poked out of the top of her navy blue helmet. Her knee and elbow pads were a lighter shade of blue. Clio was wearing a pink helmet that had a flower pictured on the front. Her elbow pads were red. According to her, it was a homage to Otto. Her knee pads were covered by her pants. Keoni's sky blue helmet was tied tight, as was his black knee and elbow pads.

"Of course I'm sure!" Clio replied. She held her hands together and sighed lovingly. "My heart has never failed me before, so Otto _has_ to be here!"

"Whateva, cuz. As long as we find Froggy, I don't care." Keoni said.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese chirped. Mackenzie rolled her eyes.

"And we'll find your stupid brother." She muttered.

"Ya know, this city seems familiar somehow…" The cat commented.

"Yeah. I know what you mean." Clio agreed. "It's like I saw it on TV or something…" She shook her head. "Come on! Let's get started!"

"It's about time!" Mackenzie shouted.

The trio started off the stage by skating down a steep decline. Clio was first, Mackenzie and Cheese were flying right behind her, and Keoni was covering the rear. The hedgehog gasped as a sudden realization came to her.

"_Now_ I remember where I saw this city! It's the same one Dr. Coconutman attacked a few days ago!"

"No way!" Keoni said with shock.

"Yeah. It was mentioned on the news." Clio confirmed.

"We better get ready to fight then."

"Well _I'm_ ready!" Mackenzie shouted. "If any of that dork's robots come near me, I whomp 'em til they run home crying to their mommies!"

"Chao!" Cheese added.

"That's the spirit guys!" Clio cheered.

The team reached the end of the decline and hit a jump pad. They were sent high in the air towards the energy path. They landed and skated straight ahead. Due to the flowing energy, their speed increased. Soon, the path dipped and went into a loop. The trio went through the loop with no trouble and found themselves on solid ground again.

"Man! It felt weird skating over that path!" Keoni said, looking back.

"It was like floating on a bed of feathers…" Clio said, sighing. The others sweatdropped.

"That wasn't what I had in mind, but thanks for providing me with a weird mental image." The hedgehog glared at the cat.

"Shut up and move!" Mackenzie yelled. Shaking her head, Clio continued on.

They skated across a small energy bridge to another solid platform before going up an incline made out of energy. At the end of the energy path was a red flapper. Clio took care of it with her homing attack. Ahead of them was a gap that had an air ring in the middle of it. Floating by the edge were two fly signals.

"Ok Mackenzie. You're up." The hedgehog said. The rabbit growled, but nodded.

"Hang on or else!" She shrieked, flapping her ears. Everybody else covered their own ears as she took flight. Clio grabbed her hands while Keoni grabbed the hedgehog's feet. The strength intensifier the rabbit received allowed her to lift her teammates with ease. Cheese flew alongside the trio as they traversed the gap.

They flew through the air ring, propelling them towards another roof top. A power formation gate was in their way. They landed and went into power formation. Keoni stood in the center. Clio was on his left and Mackenzie and Cheese were on his right. Patrolling the area was a green robot that looked like a turtle. Ahead of it was an energy path that was blocked off by an energy barrier. Generating the barrier were two red machines that flashed with Coconutman's insignia. The path was turned off.

"We better take care of that robot, cuzzes!" Keoni said, taking out his fishing rod. He gave a war cry as he ran up to the bot and swung the rod like a sword. The rod connected, making the robot blow up instantly. The machines generating the barrier were also destroyed, causing red liquid to flow through the pipes on either side of the bridge. The result was a red beam of light appearing in the middle of the gap. Shortly after, the path was restored, allowing them to stand on it.

"Great job, Keoni!" Clio shouted, clapping. Cheese clapped as well, but Mackenzie only crossed her arms.

"Can we get moving TODAY!?!" She roared. The other three cringed at her mighty scream.

"Man… Whose idea was it to bring _her_ along, anyway?" Keoni asked.

(Me: Yo.)

"Shoulda guessed…" Keoni and Clio sighed.

"Oh well… At least I'm getting a bigger part than the last time I acted for him." The hedgehog said with a shrug. They started moving again.

"At least _you_ get breaks." The cat said. "I'm stuck with him every time he writes something."

(Me: Not true! I wrote two fics that didn't have you in 'em!)

"Yeah and that was it; only two times!" Keoni retorted.

"Shut up already!" Mackenzie screamed.

Anyway, they skated/flew across the small bridge. When they reached the other end, they were in front of another energy bridge that was turned off. However, there wasn't a robot in sight. Across the gap, the trio saw the first checkpoint.

"Now what?" Clio asked herself.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked. The trio turned and saw the chao floating near some sort of switch. It had to be pushed into the wall.

"Guess we push it and see what happens." Keoni commented.

"Duh!" Mackenzie yelled. Clio rolled her eyes and walked up to the switch. She grabbed the handle and pushed. Energy flowed into a door on the opposite wall. It opened, revealing a flapper.

"I got this!" Keoni said. He jumped over the robot and jammed his "sword" into its body. It was destroyed, causing the nearby path to get restored.

The trio got back into speed formation and went across the bridge. Clio passed the checkpoint, giving her her first level-up. They then skated/flew down a slope made of energy. About halfway down, Clio noticed an air ring that led to the next ledge.

"Hey guys, when I jump, hold on to my legs, ok?"

"What are you doing, cuz?" Keoni asked. Clio looked back and winked.

"Just trust me." She said, bringing out her Pika Pika Hammer. She got closer and jumped up. She righted himself and swung her hammer like a helicopter's blades. Doing so caused her to float in the air towards the air ring.

As she neared the machine, Keoni and Mackenzie jumped. He grabbed Clio's legs, while Mackenzie grabbed his. They all spun around for a bit before hitting the air ring, sending them forward. They landed in front of five coconut pawns. The middle three were unarmed while the other two were carrying shields. They were deactivated at the moment. To the trio's right was a door. A switch was right next to it.

"Uh-oh…" Keoni said at the sight of the robots.

"Chao…" Cheese added frightfully.

"What a bunch of crybabies." Mackenzie said, crossing her arms.

"Don't worry about it, guys! I'll take care of them!" Clio shouted, waking the pawns. They charged towards the trio. The hedgehog grinned as she jumped up.

She attacked the three unarmed robots with her homing attack. They were still standing even after getting hit. She hit them again, delivering the final blow. Remembering the team's encounter with shield robots back at the beach, she swung her hammer sideways, generating a small tornado. It got both of them and knocked off their shields.

"Ha! I knew my Hammer Twister would do it!" She bragged. "Ok Keoni! Take care of those last two while I open this door." The cat blinked as she walked over to the switch and got ready to push.

"Uhhhh… Right." He said. He skated towards the coconut pawns and used his fishing rod to take them out. He sighed before going towards the door, which Clio just opened. Inside was an item bubble.

The hedgehog popped it, causing a low ringing to fill the air. Clio reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone that had an Otto sticker on it. She flipped it open and looked at the tiny screen. Displayed was the Team Blast symbol. She grinned and put her phone away.

"Our Team Blast is set up!" She said cheerfully to her friends, who groaned.

"Oh God… Not that again." Keoni shuddered. They had used their Team Blast on the beach.

"Do we _really_ have to do that again?" Mackenzie growled.

"If we need to, yes!" Clio shouted. "Now come on!" The other three sweatdropped as they skated/flew out of the room and up a sloping energy path.

At the top of the slope was a flapper, which they took care of quickly. Ahead was a jump pad that went past three rainbow rings towards another energy path. The rings were floating side by side.

"I'll take the lead so we can go through those loops." Keoni said.

"Ok." Clio replied. They switched to power formation and hit the jump pad, taking them to the rings. They passed them and did an Ollie in the air.

"This is _kinda_ fun." Mackenzie said gruffly as they soared through the air. They landed on the energy path. Clio took the lead again as they went down the path.

"Aaaaahhh!!!" Cheese screamed as they went through a loop-de-loop. The group traveled upside down a couple more times before they straightened out and hit another jump pad. They were sent inside a building. They landed in front of a checkpoint. Beyond it were two coconut pawns that noticed them immediately.

"Keoni! Take the level-up and take out those robots!" Clio ordered.

"Right!" Keoni nodded, taking the lead again. He grabbed the checkpoint, giving him his first level-up. He then took out his fishing rod. "Roll into balls you guys!"

"Aright!" Clio said, doing so. Mackenzie reluctantly did so as well.

The cat brought back his rod and slammed it into the hedgehog like she was a hockey puck. Due to Keoni's flame ring, she became a ball of fire as she sailed towards the left robot. She crashed into it, destroying it. Keoni did the same thing to Mackenzie and got rid of the right bot. To the rabbit's pleasure, a yellow power core fell out of it. She quickly grabbed it, giving her her first level-up.

"Took long enough." She grumbled. Clio looked around and noticed two doors on either side of them. The path ahead was inaccessible. It was just a huge chasm.

"Guess we better see what's behind those doors." She said, moving towards the left door. The others followed as she pushed the nearby switch, opening the door.

Waiting on the other side was a flapper, which the leader quickly destroyed. Doing so caused the opposite door to open, revealing another flapper. The team skated over to it and got rid of it. Energy flowed into the wall on the other side of the hole, forcing it to drop down and serve as a bridge for our heroes.

"Alright! Let's go!" Clio said, skating forward. Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese followed.

When they got across the bridge, three coconut pawns were waiting. The leader took care of them with her homing attack. Keoni got his second level-up from an orange power core that appeared. Ahead of them was a boost pad that led to a spring bar. Floating in the air across from some rainbow rings were three flappers.

"Looks like we can take a shortcut, cuz." Keoni commented, pointing at the obstacle. Clio grinned.

"Sounds good to me!"

They skated up to the boost pad, which sent them to the spring bar. They were sent up into the air as balls until they were level with the first robot. Using their homing attack, the group bounced across the flappers like they were stepping stones. When they destroyed the last one, they shot towards one of the rings. Doing so caused them to get propelled across the floor until they landed in front of a spring. Above were three air rings that went over a gorge to a platform. The group gulped.

"O-ok… Mackenzie, is it?" Keoni broke the silence.

"Y-yeah?" The rabbit asked.

"Why don't you take the lead?" Mackenzie blinked and crossed her arms.

"Hmph! Fine."

They switched to fly formation and hit the spring. They were again sent up into the air. At the apex of their jump, the rabbit moved forward and hit the first air ring, which sent them to the left. They then hit the other two and landed on the platform. A green flapper that was patrolling shot at them. Mackenzie quickly ascended out of the way and used Thunder Shoot. She kicked Clio at the robot, destroying it and giving the hedgehog her second level-up.

"Whew! Thanks Mackenzie!" She said, griping the rabbit's hands again.

"Whatever." The rabbit huffed. She moved the team over to an energy path that was going up. At the top was a power formation gate. A turtle robot was standing guard in front of a locked door.

"It's my turn now!" Keoni said as they passed through the gate. He took the lead and skated towards the robot, which noticed them. A cannon appeared out of the top of its shell and started charging energy. One swing of his rod ended the robot before it even fired.

"You ready over there, Mackenzie?" Clio asked. She and the rabbit were standing in front of a switch that was on either side of the door. Clio was on the left and Mackenzie was on the right.

"Yeah, yeah." The irate rabbit replied. They both pushed the switches, opening the door. A hall with a couple of energy bridges was revealed.

"Ok! Let's get going!" Clio said, skating forward on the first bridge. The others followed.

They reached the end of the first bridge, where a flapper was floating. Using their homing attack, they got through and reached the second bridge. They skated up to a jump pad and were sent towards a third bridge. They reached the end and jumped down to a lower floor. Ahead of them was another turtle bot that was guarding a cage. Keoni took the lead and destroyed it. The cage lowered, revealing a switch. Unlike the ones that were near the doors they passed, this one had to be walked into to activate.

Keoni jumped into the base of the cage and hit the switch. Energy poured into the wall in front of them and opened up, revealing another hall that had a couple of flappers and a turtle bot at the end. Clio took the lead and smashed all three of them with her homing attack. The trio then hit a nearby spring bar, sending them up to a hall that had energy covering the floor. They were propelled forward into another hall, where a coconut pawn holding a shield appeared. It was guarding a door that had two switches nearby.

"You better use that tornado move of yours." Mackenzie suggested.

"Right!" Clio replied, pulling out her hammer.

While she took care of the robot, the rabbit, chao, and cat snuck ahead and pushed the two switches, opening the door. Ahead was a jump pad that led outside. The group skated up to the pad and were sent towards a platform that had a pole on it. They skidded to a stop.

"What's with the flagpole?" Keoni asked. A hint ring was nearby. Shrugging, he walked over and grabbed it. The ring disappeared out of his hands and was replaced with a piece of paper. He then proceeded to read it.

The first panel in _this_ hint's comic had the group in speed formation. The stick figure drawings of Clio, Keoni, and Cheese had smiles on their faces while Mackenzie had a murderous scowl. They were all standing near a pole. The second panel had Clio in the air. She just used her Hammer Twister on the pole. The last panel had them hanging on to each other as they swung up the pole.

"Ok guys." He started when he was done. "You have to use your Hammer Twister, Clio, to get us up that pole." The hedgehog gave him a weirded out look before shrugging.

"Ok…" She said, pulling out the hammer again. She walked up to the pole, jumped, and used her tornado attack. Instantly, she was drawn to the pole. She hung on as she started swinging.

"Hey! Wait for us, ya lame-o!" Mackenzie yelled as she, Cheese, and Keoni jumped towards her. The rabbit grabbed onto Clio's feet while Keoni grabbed onto _hers_. Cheese followed as they all swung around and up the pole. They reached the top and let go. They flew over a gaping hole and landed on an energy path.

"Good call, Keoni!" Clio thanked as they skated forward.

"No prob! Just doing my bit of the work!" Keoni replied.

They skated up to the end of the path, where two flappers were floating in front of an air ring. They used Clio's homing attack to get past the robots and through the air ring. The group was sent towards another energy path that went upwards. When they reached the top, they saw a fly formation gate at the end of the hall. Beyond that, a green flapper with a gun was floating in front of an air ring.

"Get ready, Mackenzie!" Clio said, looking back.

"Got it!" The rabbit sneered.

They passed through the gate and switched to fly formation. Mackenzie kicked Clio at the robot and flew through the air ring. They were sent up to another hall that had three more flappers standing guard over a case and door. Mackenzie kicked both Clio and Keoni at the bots. They were destroyed and a red power core appeared. The trio got out of fly formation and Clio grabbed it, allowing her to level-up one last time. The cage lowered, revealing a switch, which Keoni hit. The door opened.

On the other side was a sleeping coconut pawn that was guarding a spring that was in a cage. The cat put it out of its misery, forcing the cage to lower. Clio took the lead again as they hit the spring, sending them up to an air ring that propelled them to another ledge. This one had a red flapper floating over a gap. The hedgehog used her homing attack to destroy the robot. The team fell down the gap and hit a boost pad that sent them up a hill and towards a cannon.

The cannon fired them upwards over a hole and onto a rail. Before they landed, the trio made themselves face sideways. They landed on the rail and started grinding. They were too close too each other though.

"Hey! Move it or else we'll crash!" Mackenzie barked.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese added.

"I know, I know!" Clio groaned. "How am I supposed to go faster?" She blinked. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Keoni asked.

"Well, I've been practicing a new move that'll help me move faster while grinding, but I don't know if it'll work because of how the air skates are made." Clio explained.

"I don't care if ya gotta fly, just get moving!" Mackenzie shouted.

"Alright!" Clio yelled. She then gulped. "Here goes."

She jumped lightly off the rail and twirled around. She landed on the rail again and accelerated.

"Finally!" Mackenzie said, glad that she had room to grind.

"Hey! What about me?!" Keoni yelled. The rabbit sweatdropped as she turned to him.

"Oops?" She said with a shrug. The cat nearly fell over at the response. He regained his balance and glared at her.

"Move it!"

"And how do you expect me to do that!?"

"Just dance!" Clio yelled back.

"Ohhhh no! I wouldn't be caught dead dancing like some ballerina!" The rabbit retorted, crossing her arms.

"Then get left behind!" Clio replied. Mackenzie growled. She had a point.

"Fine! But none of you better say anything to anybody about this!"

"Fine! Whatever! Just get out of the way!" Keoni said. The rabbit snarled at him before jumping off the rail and spinning. Along with Clio, she danced down the rail. Keoni sweatdropped and sighed.

"Guess I gotta do it too…" He muttered. He then followed their movements. They danced down the rail for a few seconds before they hit a spring that was at the end. They were propelled into the air.

Before they landed on another rail, they each did a 360 spin in the air. They got on the next rail and continued grinding. They soon reached another rail that had a spring on it. Floating nearby were three rainbow rings that were ahead of each other. Thinking fast, Clio jumped on the rail, followed by the others. They hit the spring and moved towards the rings. They passed through them and did an impressive trick in the air. They landed on another rail and grinded down it.

"Hey! I can see the goal ring!" Clio cheered.

Ahead of them was a gorge that had several small blimps floating over it. On top of each of them was a platform. On the one in the middle was the giant ring.

"We made it!" Keoni added.

"And we didn't have to use that stupid Team Blast of ours!" Mackenzie shouted happily (there's a first, huh?). Clio glared at her.

"Just for that, we're gonna do it." The others groaned at that.

"Thanks a lot." Keoni said, crossing his arms.

"Chao, chao." Cheese huffed, glaring at the rabbit.

"Oh shut up!" Mackenzie yelled.

They hit a spring at the end of the rail and landed on the blimp that had the goal ring on it. The cat, rabbit, and chao made a dash for it.

"Uh, uh, uhhhh…" Clio admonished, wiggling her finger in a condoling manner. "Didn't I just say we were going to do our Team Blast?" The other three sweatdropped and sulked at each other.

"Oh alright! Let's just get it over with!" Keoni said, walking back to her with his fishing rod held up. He opened the umbrella attachment. "Hop on…" Clio grinned as she and Mackenzie hopped on as balls.

"Team Blast: Flower Fiesta!" The hedgehog cried happily.

The background turned pink as Keoni, flushing from embarrassment, twirled his umbrella. Clio and Mackenzie spun around for a few seconds before the cat pushed up on the umbrella. The rabbit and hedgehog bounced up and landed on one foot, holding each other's hand. Keoni also balanced himself on one foot as many flowers appeared.

"Level-up…" Mackenzie and Keoni droned as they felt stronger. They became invincible as shields surrounded them. Like the protective auras provided by their invincibility, the barriers were rainbow colored.

The rabbit and cat turned to the hedgehog, who was dancing around happily. If looks could kill, Clio would be dead a million times before she even hit the floor.

"End this please." Keoni said, looking up.

(Me: ::Shrugs:: If ya wanna end it, touch the goal ring.)

"Oh yeah!" The cat skated over and touched the ring, causing it to disappear. He then held his head. "I've never felt more embarrassed…"

"I feel so dirty." Mackenzie agreed.

She felt her entire reputation collapsing from that one little move. Her parents giving her two chao, the cutest creatures on the planet, she can handle. The dancing while grinding she could deal with too. But _that_!? That just ruined her for life.

And as for Clio, she was still dancing like a loon.

To be continued…

---------------------------

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part One

"Finally! Done!" Izzy shouted triumphantly as he put down his pen. He then read over his work.

_Hey, ya dork!_

_It's time we settled things once and for all!  
__I challenge you to a duel of strength!  
__Meet me at the beach at dawn on the 26th.  
__Bring only one witness. I'll do the same.  
__  
We'll finally see which one of us is the best.  
__Of course, **I'm** the best, but I would rather  
__beat__ you up to make that point clear.  
__You better show up, or else!_

_Hatefully yours,  
__Izzy_

"Brilliant! Pure genius!" The hedgehog cheered. "Now to send it out."

He grabbed an envelope and stamp from a drawer. He licked the flap and stuck the letter inside. He then put the stamp on the envelope and wrote the return address on the top right corner. He then wrote Sam's name in the middle.

"Now for that fool's address…"

Izzy applied the pen to the spot beneath the fox's name. He was about to start writing when a sudden thought came to him.

"Hey, wait a minute! What the hell's his address!?!" He held his right hand to his mouth (his left was holding the pen) as he tried to think. About two minutes passed before he groaned.

"Ugh! You gotta be kidding me!" He snatched the envelope and left the room.

Meanwhile…

The Christmas lights were hung in the studio. Gold garland was strewn about the walls. The Christmas tree was standing in the corner, decorated with tons of ornaments and lights. Wreaths and poinsettias were also abound, giving the otherwise empty room a warm atmosphere. Mistletoe was hung over Sonic's Chaos Emeralds, and Keoni was standing guard, so Izzy couldn't try anything.

And I was standing in the middle of it all, wearing a Santa suit, minus the beard. I was laughing heartily as I read over a magazine.

"Oh my precious," I swooned. "In less than twenty-four hours, you'll be mine, all mine. I'll finally be able to caress you. I'll be able to touch you because touching is good, oh so very good." I drooled as the camera panned around me to reveal the magazine I was reading, which was entitled 'Nintendo Power.'

"Oh my sweet, sweet DS, you'll be mine at long last. The greatest gaming system to date. Two beautiful screens, wireless gaming, and rechargeable battery. Oh how I long to hold you. I want you so badly.

"Oh why must I wait!?!" I wailed. "I must have you! My pet, my beautiful siren of gaming goodness, my—"

"BOSS!!!" Izzy roared as he stomped inside. I looked up from my magazine and groaned.

"I wonder what crawled up his ass _this_ time." I muttered. Izzy walked up to me. "What can I do for ya?"

"Just answer one simple question." He started. "What's Sam's address!?!" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Ummmm… Why do you need to know?"

"I wanna send that nerd a challenge to a duel, but I got no idea what his address is!"

"Ya know, there's a little thing called 'e-mail.' Perhaps you've heard of it." I remarked.

::WHAM!::

"I know I can just send the little dork an e-mail!" He roared, brandishing his mallet. "But I'd rather do it _this_ way, so fess up!"

"Ow…" I moaned, rubbing the lump on my head. "And what makes you think I know Sam's address? It was never mentioned on the show."

"Duh! I know that! Make up a theory or something!" Again, I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I thought you hated it when I make up a theory." To that, the hedgehog readied his weapon again.

"Just start talking."

"Alright, alright!" I huffed, getting into a thinking pose. "Let's see…" I snapped my fingers as I turned to the camera. "Ok. As we all know, the stars of the show live on Ozone Street."

"Tell me something I _don't_ know." Izzy muttered. I sneered at him.

"Do you want me to tell you his address or not?" My partner growled in response. I rolled my eyes at him before turning to the camera. "Anyway, as far as everybody's address goes, we only have Twister's address, Seventy-nine Ozone Street, to go by if we want to figure out the addresses for the other characters.

"Now then, there are two ways to do this. Either you could go counter-clockwise or clockwise from Twister's house. Depending on which way you go, the numbers are different."

"Well!?"

"Oy…" I rolled my eyes. "If you want to go clockwise, Sam's address would be Seventy-eight, the Stimpletons' would be Eighty, and the Rockets' would be Eighty-one. If you go counter-clockwise, the Rockets' address would be Seventy-seven, the Stimpletons' would be Seventy-eight, and Sam's would be Eighty. Of course, the way the addresses are set up depends on the author's preference."

"Good. Now all I need to know is which way _you_ go by and I can send this thing out." Izzy said, getting his pen ready.

"Hmmmm…" I started. "I guess I'll go clockwise when it comes to their addresses."

"Alright, that means that Sam's address is Seventy-eight Ozone Street." My partner muttered, writing the address on his envelope. "I hate to say it, but thanks." He then wrote the city, state, and zip code.

"Hey, how do you know Ocean Shores' zip code, anyway?"

"I just looked at the light bill that was sent to you." Izzy answered. I raised an eyebrow.

"I get bills?"

::CLICK!::

Everything shut off, bathing the room in darkness. Only our eyes were visible.

"Izzy…" I growled, glaring at him. "Have you been hiding my mail from me?"

"Heh, heh…" Izzy chuckled nervously. His eyes had an expression of fear on them.

"You're gonna pay for this, ya know."

"But I don't have any money!" He defended.

"Who said anything about the bill?" I asked, my eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Wh-what are you gonna do?" He gulped. I snapped my fingers in response. "NNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!" Izzy's eyes disappeared shortly after.

"Ahhhhh… I feel cleansed." I sighed. My eyes faced the camera. "Anyway, Team Rodriguez has gotten through their stage! What other events will befall our heroes as they continue through the city? Find out next time! But for now, Merry Christmas! I hope that I can get some presents, namely reviews."


	9. A Trek through the City, Pt 2

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Two

The studio was decorated with black and white streamers. Balloons and banners that read, "Happy New Year!" were all over the place. Confetti also covered the walls and the floor. Tables filled with different assortments of food were stationed around the stage. I was walking around with a clipboard in my hand. I was wearing a top hat that had a strip around it that said, "Happy New Year!" I was also wearing a tuxedo.

"Hmmm… Balloons. Check. Banners. Check. Food. Check. Light bill paid, double check there. Ok, I think I'm ready for this year's party." I then turned to the camera. "Oh, hey there readers. I'm just getting set for my annual New Year's Eve update. We'll be all set to introduce the chapter just as soon as Izzy—"

::SLAM!::

The camera faced the studio's door, which was kicked open by an irate (_there's_ a big surprise) Izzy. Cuts, bruises, and the occasional burn covered his body as he stomped up to me.

"—Shows up…" I finished.

"_You…_" He hissed.

"So, did ya enjoy your duel against Sam?" I asked, smirking. The hedgehog opened his mouth to curse me out when he stopped and relaxed.

"Ohhh no. I'm not giving you the satisfaction. Sorry." He shook his head as he crossed his arms. "Just know that before we leave this dimension—_if_ we ever leave this dimension!—I will totally and utterly destroy Sam."

"So I take it you lost then?"

"_Lost?!_ You know damn well that's what happened! If it wasn't for you taking the powers I had that time in the Sonic dimension, I would've crushed him!"

"Well sorry, but you're being punished for holding my mail from me for so long." I said. "I'll give you back your powers when I see fit. In the mean time, you'll do whatever chore I decide to make ya do."

Izzy snarled in response while I stuck my tongue out at him.

"In any case," I started, taking out a piece of paper. "I got a lovely little review to respond to." I read over it before grinning. "Actually, it's a really long one, so sit tight if you're waiting for the chapter to start.

"Now then, to Mythica Ruathahold, thanks for the comment about the fic being funny. That's what I'm going for, comedy. Then again, I always go for comedy… Anyway, in response to what ya said about Cheesy-cheese, I saw that episode of Sonic X too and I know she's a girl, but I'm going by the rules in the games when it comes to chao, meaning I gotta call her it since chao are supposed to be genderless.

"And about the casting…" I raised an eyebrow after looking at the paper. "People pair up Shadow and Knuckles in the Sonic fandom?"

"HUH?!" Izzy shouted in shock. "You wouldn't!"

"Keep your vest on." I rolled my eyes before turning to the camera. "Anyway, I'm not surprised something like this came up. In fact, I probably did a lot of hinting at other pairings with the rest of the cast without even knowing it."

'_Yeah. Especially a certain couple of popular pairings…_' Izzy thought, snickering.

"The only pairing that's being played with in the story is Otto/Clio (and maybe slight hintings of Sam/Reggie), but that'd be somewhat interesting, pairing up Lars and Twister…" I held my chin for a few seconds before shaking my head. "Don't count on me doing it though. I'd certainly read it if someone were to write a fic for a pairing like that, but I sure won't write an incest fic, at least not on purpose."

"Thank God." Izzy sighed with relief. I glowered at him before turning to the camera.

"What's next?" I looked at the paper before looking up. "Well, I'd love to do reviewer responses, really I would, but that's kind of hard when I only get like ONE review a chapter!" I cleared my throat. "But I digress… I _did_ respond to a couple of reviews already. I just didn't do it every chapter.

"Oh! Speaking of which…" I pulled out another paper. "To Warior, you subscribe to Nintendo Power too? Cool! Did ya get the new issue with Link on the cover yet? I can't wait to get the new GBA Zelda game!"

"Can we get back on topic?" Izzy asked irritably.

"Oh alright." I said, looking at Mythica Ruathahold's review. "Before I continue, I'd like to say thanks a lot for the reviews you and Warior have sent me in the past, especially Warior. You've been sending me reviews for most of my stories since Dimension Hoppers 1. I'm glad you stuck with me for so long, even after the fools that run this site kicked me out. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably go stir crazy from the lack of reviews.

"Now then, back to business." I said, wiping my left eye, which was tearing up. "Man, Shadow's really mean to you, huh Mythica? Anyway, to answer his question, he and Sonic are rivals, so it's only right that Otto's rival plays as him.

"Hmmmmm… And about Iggy… Well, I only like to use him in my conversations if I'm planning to use him in the story." I answered, shrugging. "If ya really wanna see him, take a look at my other story, Otto's Christmas Quest. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

"By the way," I said, turning to Izzy. "Who was your witness in that duel?"

"Huh?" The hedgehog asked. He then crossed his arms. "Ugh… Who else?"

"Man Izzy! Sam really got you that time!" A new voice shouted as someone entered the studio and walked up to us.

It was a hedgehog. He looked exactly like Izzy, except he was a couple of feet shorter. His quills were a lighter purple than Izzy's. Like the older hedgy, a circle on his chest was bare and his head quills were styled like Shadow's. There were black highlights in them. He was wearing a yellow vest and air skates.

"Hey Dad." He said to me when he reached us. I then turned to the camera.

"And there ya go, Mythica. Izzy's little brother, Iggy." I looked at the review again before crying out, "No way! I made Merv playing as Ivo too obvious!? I thought I had everybody guessing!" Tears fell out of my eyes like two tiny waterfalls, literally.

"Duh. Anybody can figure that one out in a heartbeat!" Izzy said, rolling his eyes.

"Come on Dad. It's ok." Iggy reassured, patting my shoulder. "You had _me_ guessing."

"Newsflash: You weren't _even_ gonna be put into this story." The taller violet hedgehog said. The younger furry glared at him as I stood up.

"Anyway, good luck finding the Chaotix, Mythica!" I waved at the camera. "And speaking of the Chaotix, this part of the chapter is gonna follow the trio playing as Team Chaotix."

"Huh!? What happened to Keoni and those three girls?!" Izzy demanded.

"Didn't I say I wasn't gonna pay attention to Cheese's gender? Anyway, if I don't mess with the rotation a little bit, I won't be able to do commentary on my favorite team in chapter eight."

"Duh, bro!" Iggy agreed. Izzy only shook a fist at him.

"Anyway!" I said, turning to the camera. "This part's also gonna be short. Enjoy!"

--------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Six

A Trek through the City

Part Two

Meanwhile, at the other end of the city…

**Stage Four: Power Plant**

**Mission****: Search and destroy the three gold turtle bots!**

"Man! I thought we'd never get here!" Trent said to his teammates.

He, Little Scottie, and Eddie were standing (flying in Scottie's case) on the roof of one of the city's many energy plants. All three of them were wearing a helmet and knee and elbow pads. Trent's helmet was blue and had New Zealand's flag on it. Eddie's was under his hood, so you couldn't see it. Little Scottie's helmet was red and had happy face stickers all over it.

"Yes. Not to mention the beach was littered with all those robot parts." Eddie added in his creepy voice.

"I know what ya mean, mate." The crocodile nodded. "I can't believe our client doubted our skills so much as to make us search _both_ the beach and that weird palace for hermit crabs and a chao! We didn't even find hide or hair of Dr. Coconutman! Now, he sent us into the city that got taken over by the doc a few days ago!"

"We better get paid well for having to do such trivial things. This is not becoming of a ninja." The chameleon said, crossing his arms.

"Wow! What a cool view!" Scottie cheered, buzzing around animatedly. He looked around at all the tall buildings in amazement. It was clear that this was his first time in a city as huge as this. "Can we go on the guided tour!?" The crocodile and chameleon sweatdropped.

"Sorry. We got a job to do." Trent said.

"We have to wait for our client to contact us." Eddie agreed. The little bee's antenna drooped as he looked down.

"Ok…"

"_Detectives, come in! Are you there?_" The client's mysterious voice said.

"It's about time." Trent mumbled, pulling out the walkie talkie. "Yeah. We hear ya loud and clear, mate."

"_Good. Now listen up. Your next mission is to go into this plant. Inside are three gold robots that are shaped like turtles. They control the system of the city. Find and destroy all of them. Good luck._"

"Got it!" The croc said, putting the radio away. "Let's go guys!"

"Roger." Eddie said.

"Yeah! Let's go get those bad robots!" Scottie shouted.

The team dropped down a nearby hole in the roof. They went into speed formation when they landed. Eddie was first, Scottie was second, and Trent was last. They went straight up a small incline and found themselves in front of a turtle robot. It was guarding a couple of shield generators that was placed in front of a wall.

"I wonder what's so special about those machines…" The chameleon muttered.

"Never mind! Just take care of it!" Trent ordered.

"Right. My Leaf Whirl should take care of that automaton."

Eddie skated up to the robot and jumped over it. He then proceeded to use his technique. Dead leaves flew around him as he was surrounded by a whirlwind. He became invisible. The turtle robot was tossed up into the air. When it landed, it was lying on its shell. The chameleon used his homing attack and destroyed it along with the generators. The result was the wall lighting up with energy.

"Alright! We got the first one!" Scottie cheered.

"Didn't you hear the client?!" Trent started. "They have to be _gold_! That one was green."

"Oh. Oops!" The bee said with a sheepish grin and a shrug. The crocodile slapped his head.

"Let's go." He simply said.

"But how?" Scottie asked.

"My guess is we jump at the wall." Eddie answered as he became visible again.

"Then let's do it! We're wasting time!" Trent yelled.

The trio jumped at the wall. They got stuck to the energy and were sent upwards. They soon got over the top and found themselves in front of a green flapper. Unlike the ones the other teams dealt with, _this_ one was shooting electricity at the floor. Behind it, against the wall, were three machines.

"Ok, maker of honey, take care of that robot." Eddie said.

"Got it!" Scottie said, flying up. The chameleon grabbed onto his tiny feet while the crocodile grabbed Eddie's feet.

The bee kicked Eddie at the robot. Due to the attachments on Scottie's feet, the chameleon crackled with electricity as he sailed towards the flapper as a ball. He crashed into it, paralyzing it. The robot fell to the floor. Eddie returned to Scottie and grabbed a shuriken from under his cloak. Before the flapper could recover, he tossed it. The ninja star connected, destroying the robot. The machines it was guarding exploded, causing three columns to rise up, providing stepping stones for the detectives.

"Alright Scottie! Now take us up there!" Trent said.

"Yes sir!" The bee replied. Thanks to his strength intensifier, he had no problem lifting his friends up the platforms.

When they reached the top, another lightning bolt-tossing flapper was waiting for them. Scottie again used Thunder Shoot to bring it down. The crocodile let go of Eddie's legs and delivered the final blow with a hard punch. The result was the robot getting scrapped and an energy wall appearing. Trent grabbed on to the chameleon again as Scottie flew over to the wall. They were lifted up over the wall and found themselves in front of a third flapper. It was guarding a deactivated energy path. After getting rid of it, the path was restored.

"I'll take the lead now." Eddie said, letting go and skating towards the path. Scottie flew after him while Trent skated.

The trio went across over the path for a few seconds before went up. It ended at an energy wall, which they all went up. When they landed, they were in a room that had a purple flower locked in a cage. Scottie gasped and flew over to it. He grabbed the bars.

"That bad man…" He sniffled, tears building up in his eyes. "Why would he lock up an innocent flower for?" Trent and Eddie sweatdropped at the boy's sudden mood change not to mention the cage itself.

"That _is_ an interesting question. Why _would_ Coconutman put a cage over a flower?" Trent asked, stroking his snout.

"Even more so, _how_ is a flower growing in a place like this?" Eddie added. The trio stood thinking for a few moments before they all shook their heads.

"Forget about it, Scottie! We gotta complete the client's mission!" The crocodile said. With a final look at the flower, the bee flew back to the others.

"You're right…" He sniffled, wiping his eyes.

Eddie took the lead again as they skated ahead out of the room. In the next room were five flappers. Four of them were red while the middle one was green and shooting a lighting bolt. At the wall on the other end were a couple of machines.

"Guess you'll have to take care of this, Scottie." Trent said.

"Ok!" Scottie replied.

The trio switched to fly formation and used Thunder Shoot on the middle robot. The green flapper fell paralyzed. Trent quickly took the lead and jumped at it with his fists held together. He slammed his huge hands into it and destroyed it. A yellow power core fell out of it. Scottie grabbed it and got his first level-up. After taking care of the other robots in a similar fashion, a small platform rose out of the floor near the wall. Scottie flew Trent and Eddie up to it and grabbed an overhead hook. They were pulled up into the next area.

In this room, two green flappers shooting electricity at the floor were patrolling. Five machines were present. One was on the floor near the wall ahead, while two were on either side of it. The duo took care of the robots, allowing Eddie to get his first level-up from a red power core. Five platforms arose due to the robots' defeat. Scottie brought his teammates up the center platform. They rode an energy wall to the next section.

"Look! A gold robot!" The bee exclaimed cheerfully. In the center of the room was a giant cage that held the first gold turtle robot. Surrounding it were four flappers. A gun emerged out of the turtle's shell and started charging energy.

"It's about time!" Trent yelled.

"Yes. Let's take care of the sentries first." Eddie suggested. Scottie knocked two of the flappers down with Thunder Shoot before Trent took over.

In power formation, Eddie was on the crocodile's left and Scottie was on his right. Trent punched the robots to smithereens as the turtle fired a ring of green energy at the trio. The team dodged the attack and went back to fly formation. Scottie paralyzed the remaining flappers, allowing Trent to get rid of them. There was a problem though.

"What the—?! The cage didn't lower!" Trent shouted, dodging another attack from the turtle bot.

"There must be a switch or something for it somewhere!" Eddie suggested, jumping away from yet another energy ring.

"Let's find it!" Scottie said. The crocodile looked around the room. There were many metal crates placed next to the walls.

"It must be under one of those boxes!"

And so, the team searched around the room, dodging attacks all the while. Trent pounded all of the crates. Close to two minutes passed before they found the switch by the leftmost wall. They flipped it and the cage finally dropped. The turtle targeted the trio again and started charging energy.

"I got this!" Eddie yelled, skating towards it. He darted to the left to dodge the robots attack and jumped. He reached into his cloak and pulled out three shurikens. He tossed them all at it. They only got stuck in the shell, not damaging it at all.

"Use your Leaf Whirl!" Trent ordered. The caped ninja landed and jumped towards the robot.

He was directly over it when he flipped upside down, unleashing his tornado in a brilliant display of dead leaves. The chameleon became invisible as the turtle was thrown into the air. When the turtle landed on its shell, Trent and Little Scottie saw three ninja stars fly at it, ending one-third of their mission. Eddie panted as he became visible again.

"Man! That was so cool, Mr. Ninja Guy!" Scottie cheered, clasping his hands. The chameleon sweatdropped before scoffing.

"It was nothing." He muttered, pulling back his mask. He then grinned. "But seriously! It was great, wasn't it!?" Trent fell over.

"Uh-huh!" The bee replied with a huge grin, ignoring their leader's reaction. The crocodile groaned as he stood up.

"What possessed me to associate myself with these two?" He asked himself. He shook his head when he heard a low beeping. Scottie put on a curious look as he looked around.

"What's that?" He asked.

"It's our Team Blast meter." Eddie answered, showing his partners his watch. Its face displayed the Team Blast symbol. "It's fully charged." The bee grinned.

"Alright! I get to use my drums again!" They had already used their Team Blast once at the beach.

"And I get to sing too." Trent added. The other two's eyes widened and they cringed. Luckily, the bigger reptile didn't notice as he stepped towards the cage. A glowing orange power core was inside. He gave a toothy grin as he grabbed it and felt its energy surging through him.

"Level-up! Come on! We got two more to destroy!"

"Understood." Eddie said, putting his mask back on. He skated out of the room, followed by Scottie and Trent.

They skated/flew through a hall and found themselves outside. Ahead was a checkpoint, which the chameleon didn't hesitate to grab. He got his second level-up. In front of it was a weight. It lifted up, revealing an item bubble. The team grabbed it and three shields surrounded them. The road went right, so Trent and Scottie moved on, but Eddie stayed behind. The others stopped.

"Hey! Let's go already!" Trent ordered. The ninja in training didn't respond though, he was looking up towards the weight. He hummed when he noticed a hook.

"Hmmmmm…" He turned to the others and lifted his mask. "I think we should go up there."

"Why?" Scottie asked. The chameleon pulled down his mask and held his hands together in prayer.

"The ancient ninja spirits of the Netherworld tell me we might find something useful up there." The bee and crocodile sweatdropped and looked at each other. Trent shrugged and turned to Eddie.

"Ok… If you say so." He turned back to Scottie. "Fly us up there, will you?" The bee nodded.

"Ok."

They got into fly formation and waited for the weight to drop. When it did, they jumped on it and rode it up to a hook. Scottie grabbed on, allowing it to pull them up. When they reached the top, the bee and crocodile gasped.

"WOW! The second turtle!" They yelled happily. Inside a cage was the next gold turtle robot. Floating around the platform were several targets. They looked at Eddie, who pulled back his mask with a smug look.

"That's the last time _I_ doubt the ninja spirits!" Trent shouted.

"Yeah! Those sprit thingies are smart!" Scottie agreed. He let go and the team landed in front of the cage.

"Of course they are." Eddie scoffed. "They look over everything. They know all." The turtle noticed them and got ready to attack.

"Man, I can't believe we found the next turtle so fast." The croc commented as they moved around the cage.

"Yes. It does seem pretty easy so far."

"But how do we open it?" The bee asked. They jumped over the turtle's energy ring.

"I guess we have to hit each of those targets until it opens." Eddie said, pointing at the targets.

"So let's get to it!" Trent ordered.

"Ok!" The others acknowledged.

They dodged one more attack before going into fly formation again. Scottie kicked them into each of the targets until the turtle was free to get attacked. Before the robot could attack again, Trent took the lead and pounded it to oblivion.

"Alright! Just one more to go!" The croc said, giving the other two a thumbs-up.

"Yay!" Scottie cheered. "Then we could go on the tour, right!?" Trent sweatdropped.

"Uhhh… Sure…" The little bee danced around at the answer. Eddie sighed and shook his head.

"We better continue." He said. Trent nodded and the two jumped down, leaving Scottie alone. The bee danced for a few more seconds before he stopped and looked around.

"Where'd everybody go?" He looked down and saw his partners skating away down an energy path. "Hey! Wait for me!" He flew after them. He soon caught up with the two reptiles and entered a dome-like structure. As balls, they rolled around in it for a few seconds before exiting through an air ring.

"Wow! That was fun!" Scottie yelled as the trio landed on solid ground. The others stumbled around dizzily.

"Says you…" Trent groaned.

"Let's not do that again…" Eddie added dazedly. They shook the dizziness out of their heads and looked around.

The path seemed to split in two. Ahead was an energy path that went down. Floating above it were three flappers. They were floating near an upper path. To the right, a flapper was floating by a wall. Underneath it was a round object. It seemed to be the top of a pole. Trent got into a thinking pose as he looked at the trio of floating robots.

"Hmmmm…" He turned to Eddie. "Think you can get us to those robots?" He pointed at the flappers ahead. The chameleon looked ahead and held a hand to his chin, trying to judge the distance. He soon turned to the leader and nodded.

"I believe I can make it to those metallic troublemakers." Trent gave him a toothy grin.

"Good! Let's get to it then." Eddie nodded again.

"Just follow my lead."

He backed up and skated towards the beginning of the energy path, followed by Scottie and Trent. Just before the path went down, they jumped and used the ninja's homing attack to bounce off the robots and get on the path.

"Level-up!" Scottie giggled as he glowed yellow for a few seconds.

"Whew!" Trent sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Good job, mate!"

"No problem." Eddie replied, crossing his arms. He started skating again. "Let's go!"

"Right!" The others replied, following him.

They went towards an energy path that was connected to the floor. They proceeded down it and then up an energy wall. In the next area were three flappers, two red and one green, which were floating in the middle. The green one was shooting electricity at a cage. In front of it was the top of a pole.

"Ok Scottie, take care of 'em!" Trent ordered.

"Okey dokey!" The bee shouted, getting into fly formation. He flew up a bit before kicking Eddie at the robots.

Due to his recent increase in strength, Scottie's attack was able to destroy all three robots. As the chameleon came back to the team, the cage lowered, revealing a switch. The two reptiles let go of the bee. The trio then walked towards the switch.

"What do you think this one does guys?" Trent asked. Eddie looked carefully at the floor in front of the switch.

"Hmmm… Who knows? I think I better take the lead."

"Go ahead." The crocodile said, nodding. The ninja walked over to the switch and flicked it. Instantly, a huge pole rose out of the floor. It went about twenty feet up, making it parallel to an alcove.

"If I use Leaf Whirl, we can get up with no problem." The caped one said, walking up to it.

"Hang on, mate!" Trent protested. "Don't you remember what happens when you use that move!?" Eddie turned to him.

"Yes. I become invisible. What's the problem?" The bigger reptile slapped his head.

"How are _we_ supposed to go up if we can't see you!?" He asked, pointing at himself and Scottie. Eddie sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Oops… Forgot about that." He said, pulling back his mask. He crossed his arms and looked down, trying to think of a solution. Nothing would come up, however. Scottie sweatdropped as his fellow detectives tried to figure a way out of this situation.

"What if he becomes invisible first?" He spoke up. Startled by his young voice, they jumped up and faced him with a curious look. The bee pointed at Eddie. "If he becomes invisible and then walks up to the pole, he could become visible by doing that move again and take us up it." The other two looked at each other.

"That actually…makes sense." Trent said with wide eyes. Eddie nodded.

"Yeah…" They then turned to Scottie. "How did you figure that out?" The bee shrugged.

"How did I figure what out?" He then grinned. "Look at what I can do!" He flew up into the air and performed some loop-de-loops. Trent and Eddie fell over.

"Easy come, easy go." The crocodile sighed as he got up. The chameleon also stood up and adjusted his mask.

"Let's move on." He said, pulling it down again.

"Right. Come on Scottie!" Trent called. The bee flew towards him. He turned to Eddie. "You heard what he said. Go invisible." The black one nodded and used Leaf Whirl. He became invisible to Trent and Scottie, who looked around themselves.

"Hey! Where are you?" The bee asked. Trent rolled his eyes.

"I'm at the pole." The ninja's voice said. The other two walked/flew towards the pole…and tripped. "OW!!! GET OFFA ME!!!"

To anybody looking at them, it would look as if Scottie and Trent were floating a few inches off the ground. The bee and crocodile got up and bowed apologetically to the chameleon. Of course, they didn't know where he was, so they just bowed in every direction. Eddie sighed exasperatedly.

"Never mind. Just get ready to grab on."

"Ok!" The others said.

A gust of wind blew and Eddie reappeared, grabbing onto the pole. He started to go around and up it. Before he went too fast, Scottie grabbed on to his legs, while Trent grabbed on to the bee's. The trio spun up the pole. When they reached the top, they let go and wound up in a room that was occupied by a green turtle bot. It was guarding a couple of shield generators.

"I'll take care of this one, mates!" Trent said, darting towards it. He jumped and slammed his fists into the robot, destroying it and the generators. In the room beyond, parts of the wall jutted out in three places, creating ascending footholds for the detectives. Pure, red energy flowed within them.

"I'll take the lead!" Scottie said, flying forward. The trio got into fly formation as they left the room they were in.

The bee flew them over to the first foothold, followed by the second, which was next to it. Floating over the third platform, on either side of a hook, were two flappers. Scottie launched Eddie at the left robot and got rid of it. While the chameleon was coming back, he kicked Trent at the right one. The croc got his second level-up from the robot.

When their leader came back to them, Scottie flew his teammates over to the platform and grabbed the hook. It brought them to a fourth platform, which had a rail nearby. The trio hopped on the platform and then the rail. They switched to speed formation and grinded down it. When they were halfway through, something caught Little Scottie's interest.

"Wow! I think I just saw something shiny!" He exclaimed gleefully, looking down. The other two looked at him.

"It must be the last turtle!" Eddie said. They reached the end of the rail and landed on the ground.

"Quick Scottie! Where'd you see it?!" Trent asked. The bee flew overhead and pointed a few feet behind them.

"I think it was just under that wall!" He answered. He followed Trent and Eddie as they jumped down. Sure enough, the cage containing the final turtle was right in front of them.

"At long last. Let's finish this." Eddie said, taking out a shuriken.

"I have a better idea." Trent said, grabbing the weapon. Eddie growled at him, but he ignored it. "We'll do this with style."

"Oh? How so?" Eddie asked, still mad about his ninja star getting taken away. The crocodile grinned at him, showing his shiny teeth.

"Let's use our Team Blast."

"Alright!" Scottie cheered. "Time to bring out my drum!" He pulled out his drum set and hanged the drum from his neck.

"That's the spirit, mate!" Trent laughed, pulling out a microphone. Eddie pulled back his mask to reveal his face, which had a smirk on it.

"I've been meaning to get some practice in." He said, reaching into his cape. He pulled out a smoke bomb. He tossed it at the ground, shrouding himself in a cloud of green smoke. Trent and Scottie sweatdropped at the theatrics. When the smoke dissipated, a speaker was standing by him. In his hands was…an electric guitar!?!

(Me: What the hell!? Espio uses a _lute_! What are ya doing with a guitar!?!)

"I don't know how to play the lute!" Eddie yelled. "Besides, this was all the prop department had!"

(Me: ::Slaps my head:: That's the last time I spend most of the budget on robot parts. ::Sighs:: Continue.)

"Alright mates, this'll be our first single to give a message to Dr. Coconutman!" Trent yelled. "Team Blast: Sherlock Concert!" Scottie and Eddie sweatdropped.

"Couldn't you think of a better name?" Eddie asked.

"Yeah!" Scottie added. Trent glared at them.

"It was short notice! Deal with it!" He roared. "Now let's try this again. Team Blast: Sherlock Concert!"

Their team attack started off with Eddie playing a few riffs on his guitar, creating a fast jibe. Little Scottie followed up by pounding his drum with his sticks. Trent took a deep breath as he prepared to sing his solo. The bee and chameleon gulped nervously.

"NOBODY KNOWS THE TROUBLE I'VE SEEN!!! NOBODY KNOWS MY SORROW!!!" He sang. The others cringed as they continued playing. Trent's singing voice sounded worse than nails on a chalkboard. It was more horrible than Mackenzie's scream. It was more unbearable than a bullhorn's feedback. It was beyond torture, beyond torment, beyond—

"ALRIGHT! WE GOT IT!!!" The trio yelled.

Anyway, the entire plant started shaking to the band's song. Pieces of the ceiling started to fall all around them, but they kept playing. The gold turtle was crackling with electricity as the music fried its circuits. It soon exploded and the trio received five rings for their trouble.

"_Mission__ complete!_" The client's voice said. Trent pulled out the walkie talkie and gave it an odd look. He did he know they completed the task? "_I knew I could count on you!_"

"All in a day's work." Trent said.

"_Well anyway, I'll contact you again when I have a new objective. Until then, you're free to roam around the city. Over and out._" The radio clicked off.

"Did you hear that!? We get a break!" Scottie cheered. "Now we can go on a tour of the city!" Trent and Eddie groaned at that. They were all about to leave when something behind them glowed brightly.

"Huh?" The trio said, turning towards the cage that housed the turtle robot. It was lowered. A yellowish light was coming from it. The three detectives walked towards the light.

"Wow! What a pretty rock!" Scottie exclaimed, flying into the cage. He then reemerged, holding a yellow jewel, which was causing the glow. The trio stared in awe.

"I feel a strong energy coming from it." Eddie said, pulling down his mask.

"What's a diamond like this doing here?" Trent asked, ignoring his partner.

"Do you think the client wanted us to find it?" Scottie asked innocently. The leader rubbed his snout.

"Maybe. We better take it with us." He said, grabbing the jewel from the little kid. He then skated away.

"Hey!" The bee protested, flying after him. Eddie stood still with his arms crossed.

"I had a bad feeling about this case before we left. The presence of that jewel makes it even worse." He then skated after his comrades.

--------------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

"Hey Izzy, if Iggy was your witness in that duel, who was Sam's?" I asked.

"Reggie, duh!" The hedgehog replied, crossing his arms.

"Ya shoulda been there, Dad!" Iggy shouted. "Reggie was like an entire cheering section at a football game or something!"

"Yeah right!" I said.

"I'm serious! She was waving squid banners and coming up with all sorts of cheers. She also _danced_ a couple of times!"

"That doesn't sound like Reggie." I turned to Izzy. "Did she _really_ do all that?"

"As much I as I hate to say it, yeah she did." The older furry answered, nodding. "It was hard to concentrate on fighting Sam with her going nuts every time Blondie or I made a hit." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"They really do make a cute couple, wouldn't you say?" Iggy asked.

"Yep. Definitely the best straight pairing for the show." I agreed.

"Eh. It's not too bad. Better than the other pairings at least." Izzy reluctantly said with a shrug.

"Anyway," I said, turning to the camera. "Team Sherlock has completed another mission for their mysterious client. Who is he and what is with the strange jewel they found? Nobody answered that!" I glared at the camera. "They're supposed to be stupid questions. And what about the other teams? Will they continue on, unaware of each other's presence, or will they cross paths? Tune in next time! Oh, and by the way…"

"Happy New Year!" Me, Izzy, and Iggy cheered, waving at the camera.


	10. Team Tussle

Pre-chapter Conversation

The scene opened in the studio, which was back to normal. Party favors no longer littered the floor and walls. It looked just like the set of a talk show again. A desk was sitting at the right end of the stage. Next to it were some comfortable chairs. Behind them was a huge screen. Izzy, Iggy, and I entered from the right. I was wearing my normal outfit, which was a purple and black jester's outfit, a cape that was black on the outside and red on the inside, and my crown.

"Welcome to the first update of the New Year, everybody!" I started cheerfully.

"Oh joy, another year of stupidity." Izzy grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Yeah! Another year of fun and hopefully tons of slashiness!" Iggy cheered, jumping up and down. His older brother gave him a weirded out look before turning to me.

"You're not _seriously_ gonna write anymore slash fics, are ya!?" He asked nervously.

"Eh." I shrugged. "I haven't got any new ideas yet, but ya never know." I grinned. He groaned.

"I wonder how long I can last before I go insane _this_ year…" He mumbled.

"Oh come on, bro! You know you love it!" The younger hedgehog shouted. Izzy's face went red in response. Of course, it was hard to tell if he was blushing or just mad. He glared and clenched a fist.

"Why you…" He hissed as a vein in his head popped. Iggy sweatdropped as he walked backwards.

"Uhhh… Izzy… Why are ya looking at me like that?" He gulped when the older hedgehog pulled out his mallet.

"Just hold still for a minute…"

"YIKES!!!" Iggy screamed as he ran away. Izzy gave a war cry as he gave chase.

"In any case…" I started, watching Izzy chase Iggy around. "I guess I'll handle the reviewer responses for this week."

"Aw come on! I was joking!" Iggy was heard pleading.

"I'll show ya!" Izzy roared as he took a swing.

"Woah!!!" Iggy yelled as he dodged the attack.

I rolled my eyes before taking a piece of paper out of my pocket.

"Anyway, to Warior, heh it's nothing." I rubbed the back of my head. "To tell the truth, a lot of my previous stories were already written. In fact, The Runaway was written WHILE The Substitute was being worked on. I also worked on Rocketmon and Izzy the Hedgehog at the same time."

"Somebody say my name?" Izzy asked, pausing in mid-swing. He had cornered Iggy.

"Nope." I answered.

"Ha! Thanks a lot, Dad!" Iggy shouted, running away.

"Hey! Get back here!" The older brother yelled, resuming the chase.

"Anyway, that's why I was able to get the chapters for those and my slash fics posted up so fast." I continued. "Unfortunately, I got a little slow when it came to this fic. So far, I got up to chapter ten written and I'm not even close to done yet! But yeah, I guess I am a little fast when it comes to writing. Of course, my speed's always different, depending on my current mood and other circumstances.

"And to Mythica, nice to know I can call ya that." I grinned as I pulled out her review. "That level's not _so_ bad. It's a lot faster than Team Chaotix's version of Grand Metropolis at least. That was a headache and a half trying to find all those robots.

"I've never played Tales of Symphonia before. Is that game hard? Here's hoping you'll beat it!" I gave the camera a thumbs-up before looking at the review again. "I don't really pay too much attention to the romance fics at the Sonic section of the site. I mainly read the humor fics there. I wonder how the slash authors there make the Shadow/Knuckles and other cross species pairings work."

"Who cares!? As long as ya never do it, I'll be happy!" Izzy shouted as he tried to hit Iggy with little success.

"Come on Dad! Can ya please do it someday?" Iggy yelled, dodging his brother's attacks. "That'd be so cool if ya can write a Sonic slash fic!"

"Shaddap!" The darker hedgehog roared, taking another swing.

I blinked before turning to the camera again.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea, writing a Sonic slash fic…" I shrugged. "Eh. We'll see, I guess. Anyway…" I read over the review again before raising an eyebrow. "Iggy's hyper? I've always looked at him as a complete opposite to Izzy, but ok, I'll go with that…" I snapped my fingers.

Meanwhile, Izzy had his little brother boxed in.

"Now you'll pay for that little remark." He said, getting ready to strike him down.

Suddenly, a bag of sugar appeared by Iggy. The hedgehog gasped and felt his eyes go wide as he grabbed the bag of snowy white goodness.

"YAY!!! SUGAR!!!"

He ripped open the bag and emptied the contents into his mouth. Izzy went blue in the face as the hedgehog underwent a startling transformation.

"ROAR!!!" Iggy, well, roared as he grew twenty feet tall. His eyes became two red swirls of insanity as he flexed his muscles.

His little-big brother gulped and dropped the mallet, which looked like a tiny nutcracker from Iggy's height. The sugar crazed furry grinned toothily as he reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his own mallet. Unlike Izzy's, it looked more like a child's toy than a weapon. The body was yellow and it had two red squeaky looking pieces of plastic serving as the head (For better reference, look at Luigi's hammer when he uses his offensive power shot in Mario Power Tennis). Of course, it was still dangerous due to its monstrous size. The hyperactive giant stomped towards Izzy, causing the ground to shake.

"N-n-now Iggy…" The older hedgehog tried as he backed up nervously. "L-l-let's t-talk about th-th-th-this… I'm s-s-s-sure we can w-w-work out an agreement…"

The bigger hedgehog raised his mallet above his head.

"YAOI RULES!!!" He bellowed, taking a swing.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!" Izzy screamed, barely diving out of the way. The mallet crashed into the floor, causing the studio to shake and tremble. The darker hedgehog panicked as he ran for his life, followed by the colossal beast known as Iggy.

"Well… _That_ was unexpected…" I said, scratching my head. I turned to the camera. "Anyway, I guess we'll get to business. This chapter will present a series of fights between the four teams. I know it's a little strange making them fight when all, or at least most of them, are friends, but I gotta follow the game's script. Who's gonna fight who and who'll come out on top? Read on, dear readers!"

I waved as Izzy ran past me. Iggy trampled over the camera, causing static to overtake the screen.

--------------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Seven

Team Tussle

"Man! I almost thought we weren't gonna make it for a second there!" Otto laughed to his friends. They looked slightly charred as they skated along a rooftop in the city. "Almost."

"It sucks that I didn't take my camera with me. That woulda been the best footage ever!" Twister yelled. "Nothing can top what we just went through!"

"Ugh… I think I need a new air sickness bag…" Sam groaned. He looked green in the face and was extremely sweaty. "And all that heat in the energy storage tank didn't help one bit!" He wiped his dripping forehead.

"Squid, are you just gonna complain the _whole_ way?" The hedgehog asked irritably as he skated backwards.

"Yeah, Sammy! Just enjoy the trip!" The echidna agreed, looking back at the fox.

"I'll enjoy it when I stop having to worry about going upside down at impossible speeds, worrying about murderous robots, and having to run from all sorts of things!" The kitsune screamed.

"Come on, Squid! This road trip's been the best one I've ever been on!" Twister said.

"Yeah! You don't see Twist or me complaining, do you?" Otto added. Sam glared at both of them.

"Just you wait. You'll both find something to complain about sooner or later. Count on it!"

To that, the two best bros laughed.

"Yeah right! Except for Mr. Stimpleton going crazy, this has been a blast!" Twister said. Otto growled at the mention of the mad doctor.

"Just wait until I see him again…" He hissed, clutching a fist. He turned to his friends. "Anyway, aside from _him_, this has been fun! Just think what would happen if we were back in Ocean Shores."

"We'd be running from Little Scottie and Clio would be trying to marry you." Sam pointed out. Otto shuddered at the mention of the red-violet hedgehog.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about _her_." He said, sighing with relief.

"Yeah." He friends agreed.

Unfortunately, fate has that nasty little habit of screwing you over in the worst way possible.

"EEEEEEEEEEE!!! OTTO!!!" The trio skidded to a stop after hearing that voice.

"Please tell me I wasn't the only one who heard that." The hedgehog said fearfully. The others gulped and nodded. Otto looked around nervously.

"It's impossible. It can't be _her_! How could _she_ have gotten here?!" He rambled as he paced around stressfully.

"Chill bro. I'm sure it was only…" Twister trailed off, trying to think of some way to calm his frantic friend.

"The wind?" Sam supplied. The fox and echidna turned to each other.

"Yeah! That's it! It was the wind, Otto-bro."

"Besides, how could _she_ have gotten here all by herself?" Sam rationalized. Otto stopped pacing and gave them a relieved glance.

"Yeah, that's right! There's _no_ way she coulda gotten through all those robots!" He shouted happily. "That must've been my imagination or something!" He threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"Otto! Up here!" The voice yelled again.

The trio looked up.

Otto's eyes went as wide as saucers when he saw Clio, Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese floating down. The girls and the chao were hanging onto Keoni's belt. The cat was holding up his umbrella, which was allowing them to drift down safely. When they landed, Clio ran up to the other hedgehog and blew a kiss.

"Gotcha, my darling Otto!" She said, holding her hips.

"AHHHH!!! The demon!" Otto yelped as he hid behind Sam for protection. The fox sweatdropped.

"Why is everybody always hiding behind me?"

"Because you provide a lot of protection with your big—"

Twister couldn't get the next word out for Sam whipped him hard with his tails. The fox lunged and a cloud of dust appeared. While the two fought, Otto was left alone to protect himself from the older girl. He gulped as she slowly advanced towards him.

"Uhhh… Guys… Little help!?" He said. He was sweating bullets under Clio's loving stare.

"Call me fat, will you!?!" Sam roared as he kneed Twister in the gut.

"Well, why don't you stop eating all those Shack burgers!?!" Twister retorted, getting ready to punch Sam's stomach.

"Dude! My condition!"

The echidna withdrew his fist before he made contact.

"Oh, sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. He then sweep kicked him. "Like I said, when are ya gonna stop eating those burgers!?"

"Me!?! What about you, Mr. Chili Bacon Cheeseburgers!?!" Sam got up and whipped him again.

"You should talk! Drinking just the syrup out of that cup!" Twister head-butted him.

Meanwhile, Otto was backing up from the crazed girl.

"Otto…" Clio started sweetly. Otto gulped again. "This time, you're going to marry me."

"Marry you!?" The ruby hedgehog demanded, getting back his nerve. "News flash: I'm only eleven!"

"Oh Otto." Clio said, waving a dismissive hand. "You'd be surprised how many chapels would perform the ceremony regardless of our ages." Otto sweatdropped.

"Believe me, I don't think I wanna know." He muttered. "How'd you get here, anyway!?"

"My heart led me to you, my sweet." Clio said lovingly. Otto gagged at that. "I may have had to take care of a few of those pesky robots, but as long as I get to see you, it was worth it."

"You actually came across Mr. Stimpleton's robots?" The male slapped his forehead. "Of course you did. This place got taken over by him." Clio stopped her advance and gasped.

"You mean _he's_ Dr. Coconutman!?" Otto nodded in response.

"Yeah. Me, Sam, and Twist fought him." Clio gave him a weirded out look.

"Maurice is here?"

"My name's Twister! Ow! That was my tail, Squid!" Twister yelled. The two hedgehogs turned towards the fight. The fox had just bitten the echidna's tail.

"You think I care!? Now apologize!" Sam roared, punching the orange one in the face. Otto and Clio sweatdropped before turning to each other.

"What are you guys doing out here, anyway?" The red-violet hedgehog asked.

"We're going after Merv because he wants to destroy all the skate parks in the world." The red hedgehog replied. Clio gasped.

"Oh my! That's terrible!" She said before blinking. "You must be hurt from fighting all those robots. Let me kiss and make it all better." She smirked evilly as she started her advance again.

"Oh God!" Otto groaned, backing up again. Keoni and Mackenzie sweatdropped at the exchanges going on.

"What a reunion _this_ has turned out to be, huh cuz?" The cat asked. The rabbit only crossed her arms in response.

"This stinks on ice!" She shouted. She then took a deep breath.

"HEY!!! I WANT MY CHAO!!!" She roared, causing everybody else to look at her.

"Woah! Keoni?! What are you doing here, dude!?" Twister asked excitedly, walking up to the cat.

"Hey Keoni!" Sam said, forgetting the fight and walking up as well. "What are you doing—Ahhhh!!! Mackenzie!?!" The fox jumped away as soon as he laid eyes on the irate rabbit and her chao.

"Woah!" Twister exclaimed, jumping back as well. "What the heck's going on!?"

"Help! Get her away from me!" Otto was heard screaming. He was skating away from Clio, who only skated after him longingly. Everybody else sweatdropped at the sight.

"Come on, Otto-wotto! Let me kiss your boo-boos away!" Clio yelled.

"Get away from me!" Otto shouted in response. That only fueled the girl's desire further. The chase continued as both Mackenzie and Keoni glared at him.

"Hey! Give back my little Froggy, brah!" Keoni demanded, skating after them.

"Yeah! And give back this thing's brother!" Mackenzie roared, pointing at Cheese. She joined the chase.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked, flying after them. Sam and Twister looked at each other and shrugged.

"When in Rome…" The fox said, going after them.

"Hey! Wait up!" Twister yelled, following them.

The chase continued for a little longer before they reached an "island" in the middle of the city. It was the roof of a lone building. The roof was shaped like a hexagon. Boxes and item bubbles containing power cores were present. One containing a red power core was floating in the middle. Otto had enough. He skidded to a stop, turned, and used his homing attack.

"Woah!" Clio said, jumping out of the way. The other hedgehog bounced off the ground, making a small crater. He unrolled and faced Clio with a glare and both fists clenched. The girl gave him a shocked look.

"Otto…?"

"I've had enough of you chasing after me!" The red one yelled. "I have no interest in you, so stop it!"

"But Otto, don't you see?" Clio started, clasping her hands together. "I love you."

"Well _I_ don't!" He jumped up and spun around in the air. "Rocket Twister!" He shot a funnel of red energy towards her. Clio smirked as she took out her Pika Pika Hammer.

"If you wanna pay hard to get… Hammer Twister!" She swung her hammer, causing a tornado of her own to be launched towards Otto's. Both attacks collided and went back and forth for a few moments before they both disappeared.

"Oh man! Not you too!" Twister groaned. He and Sam joined Otto while Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese joined Clio. "Does _anybody_ else have my name in their attack?!"

(Me: Ask me again in a few minutes.)

The echidna sweatdropped at that.

"Hey! Give me back my chao, lame-o!" Mackenzie yelled at Otto.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese supplied.

"Yeah! Give back my Froggy too!" Keoni added.

"What are you guys talking about?!" Sam asked.

"If you don't give me back that chao right now, I'm gonna whomp you so hard, you'll never forget it!!!" The rabbit snarled. The all-male trio blinked.

"Chao? Froggy? We don't have any of those." Twister reasoned.

"Well it looks like we got a fight on our hands, players!" Keoni said, punching his hand.

"Fight!?" Twister and Sam exclaimed.

"Yeah. So how about it, Otto?" Clio started, smirking evilly at the other leader. "If, and _when_, my team wins, you'll marry me and give back Chocola and Froggy."

"What!? I have no clue what you guys are talking about!" Otto shouted. He then lowered his head. "But it looks like we don't have any other choice…" He glared at his fan girl. "Fine! If me and my crew win, you gotta stop trying to date me, got it!?"

"Fine." Clio sighed. "If we lose, I'll stop trying to date you." What the other team didn't notice though was that she had her fingers crossed behind her back.

"So let's do this then!" The red hedgehog yelled. Everybody but Sam and Twister got into fighting poses.

"Hey! Don't _we_ have a say in this!?" The fox and echidna yelled.

**TEAM BATTLE #1**

**TEAM ROCKET VS. TEAM RODRIGUEZ**

Both teams backed up until they were standing on opposite ends of the battlefield.

"Give up, Otto!" Clio shouted. "This time, you won't get away."

"Yeah right!" Otto shot back. "Let's just get this over with. I still got Mr. Stimpleton to worry about."

"I'll start us off!" Keoni said, taking the lead. His group bolted towards Otto's.

"Follow my lead, guys!" The male hedgehog said, skating forward. Twister and Sam gave each other unsure looks before following.

Mackenzie jumped and made to crash into Otto. Before she could connect, the hedgehog jumped and used his homing attack to drive her back. He was still in the air as the rabbit got knocked to the ground.

"Hey! That's no way to treat a lady!" Clio protested.

"Too bad! This is a fight, remember!?" Otto replied. He used his homing attack again and hit the bubble containing the red power core. He glowed brightly as he got his first level-up.

"Alright! I got it!" He cheered. Unfortunately for him, Keoni swung his fishing rod into Clio, launching her as a fireball. She regretfully crashed into the other hedgehog, burning him.

"Yeow!" He yelped, holding his now-burnt chest.

"There's more where that came from! Now give back Froggy!" Keoni barked.

"You have to catch me first!" Otto yelled, smirking. He sped up and became a blur of red. Clio, Keoni, and Mackenzie sped up and continued the fight. Cheese, Twister, and Sam were having a hard time moving around due to the purple, red-violet, and red blurs bouncing around the arena.

"Man, can you see him?!" Twister asked, looking at the streaks of light.

"I can't see _anyone_!" Sam replied.

Just then, the echidna was punched from behind. He groaned as he got up.

"What happened…?"

He then got kicked. He growled as he stood up.

"That does it! Let's go, Squid!" He grabbed the fox's hand.

"But I—"

That was all Sam got out before he was dragged into the fray. The orange and yellow blurs bounced alongside the other four blurs.

"Chao, chao." Cheese squeaked before it got pulled into the fight.

A few seconds passed before all six of the blurs bounced high above the arena. First, the purple and orange blurs crashed into each other, revealing Keoni and Twister. Their right fists collided into each other. They fell towards the battlefield. Next, one of the red blurs crashed into the yellow blur, revealing Mackenzie, Cheese, and Sam. The chao was scratching (or trying to, anyway) at the fox while the rabbit kicked at him. Sam had his arms in front of his face. They too fell towards the ground. Finally, the other red blur bumped into the red-violet one, revealing Otto and Clio. The female swung her hammer at the male, but he blocked it with his foot. They also fell. The speed fighters landed and the fight continued.

"I'm taking the lead!" Mackenzie told her teammates. The others nodded and went into fly formation.

"Ottoman, let me lead for a bit!" Twister said to his best bro, who nodded.

"Go for it, bro!"

The trio went into power formation. Sam and Otto rolled into balls and went into Twister's hands. The echidna charged forward, getting ready to strike the opposing team. Mackenzie used Thunder Shoot, kicking Clio towards them. Twister skated out of the way of his older cousin and kept moving. The rabbit's eyes widened.

"Quick, cuz! Kick me!" Keoni yelled at her.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese added. Mackenzie shook her head and nodded.

"Right!"

She brought her foot back and kicked Keoni, sending him towards Twister. She was now standing on the ground. To the cat's amazement and the rabbit's fright, the echidna _jumped_ over him and got ready to use Fire Dunk. He brought back the fist that had Sam clinging and tossed him towards the girl. With nobody to protect her, she did the only thing she could think of. She put her arms in front of her.

"Chao!"

Seeing its master in danger, Cheese sprung to action. It crashed into Sam in hopes of stopping the attack. Unfortunately for the chao, the fox was much too big for it to stop. It only succeeded in throwing Sam off track. The yellow one landed on the ground in front of Mackenzie. She got singed due to the heat of the fireball. She was also pushed back because of the force of the attack. She went flying over the edge!

"Mackenzie!" Clio and Keoni yelled.

"This stinks on iceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" She screamed.

"Chaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooo!!!" Cheese shouted, going after her.

"Alright! One down, two to go!" Otto cheered as Twister let him go. The trio turned to the other team, which was now short one member. Clio and Keoni growled at them.

"Take the lead, Keoni." Clio said. The cat nodded at her.

"Gotcha!" He skated towards the trio with Clio on his left.

"I'm up dudes!" Otto said, skating towards them. Sam and Twister followed.

When they were close to each other, Keoni grabbed his fishing rod and made the wind up. Seeing the maneuver, Clio rolled into a ball. The cat then launched her towards the other group. They all got out of the way of the flaming girl. Before they can retaliate, Clio unrolled and grabbed her hammer. She then used her Hammer Twister. Otto and Twister were able to get out of the way, but Sam wasn't so lucky.

"Woooooooooaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!" The fox cried as he got swept into the vortex.

"Sammy!!!" His teammates exclaimed, fearing for their friend. There was nothing they can do. If they tried to help, they would get pulled in as well. Soon, Sam was spit out of the tornado and fell towards the city streets below.

"Yes! It worked!" Clio said gleefully, giving Keoni a high five.

"Yeah! Now we're even!" The cat added. The two remaining members of Team Rocket looked over the edge, trying to find their friend. They didn't see any part of him. Mad at their current loss, they turned to the two members of Team Rodriguez.

"That does it! This ends now!" Otto proclaimed, skating forwards with Twister right behind. Clio and Keoni skated towards them as well.

They both closed the distance and head-butted each other, causing them to get pushed back a few feet. They charged at each other again, getting pushed back that time as well. This pattern continued for about two minutes before they stopped and panted. Both teams stared intensely at the other.

There was a lot riding on this battle, at least as far as Otto, Clio, and Keoni were concerned. If the crazed fan girl and her partner win, she'll have the boy of her dreams while the cat will get his precious pet frog back. Not to mention that Mackenzie would have Chocola back as well. If the scarlet hedgehog and the echidna win, the former would never have to worry about Clio chasing after him again. As for Twister, he didn't really have anything riding on this. If anything, he wanted to get this battle over with as fast as possible so that they can search for Sam and continue their self-appointed mission to find Dr. Coconutman.

Otto and Twister skated towards Team Rodriguez, who again skated towards them. They head-butted each other again. Twister and Keoni were pushed to the ends of the field while Clio and Otto remained in the center, struggling to avoid getting brought back to their ends of the field.

As they kept trying to push the other back, Otto noticed Keoni stumbling around dizzily and grinned evilly. Clio also gave a malicious grin when she noticed Twister reeling as well. Both hedgehogs looked each other straight in the eye, trying to calculate the other's move. They had to make sure they caught the other off guard so that they can't stop them from helping their cause.

Without warning, they separated and went after their intended targets.

"Rocket Twister!" Otto roared, spinning in the air.

"Wha?" Keoni sputtered, turning towards him. He sweatdropped when a red tornado came towards him.

Meanwhile, Clio jumped into the air and brought her hammer out.

"Hammer Twister!" She called, swinging the hammer horizontally.

"Huh?" Twister said, looking up. He sweatdropped when a tornado headed towards him.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Both the echidna and cat screamed. Clio and Otto turned towards their teammates.

"Twister/Keoni!" They said at the same time. Both Keoni and Twister were sucked up in the tornados and tossed out of the field. Both hedgehogs gaped at their partners, who fell towards the streets. They then turned to each other.

"Well, Otto-wotto, it's just you and me." Clio said with a wide grin. Otto sweatdropped when he noticed the spark in her eyes.

"Y-yeah… Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" Clio asked innocently, walking towards him. Otto gulped as he backed up.

"Like you're trying to undress me if I had clothes on."

The other hedgehog giggled at that.

"How'd you guess?" She winked. The male turned redder than usual as he cleared his throat. He glared at her.

"Hey! What're ya doin', acting all lovey-dovey for?! We're in the middle of a fight!"

"Oh silly Otto, I don't want to fight. Can't we just let bygones be bygones and go on a romantic walk under the moon?" Clio batted her eyelashes at him. "It'll be perfect. You, me, the stars, together at the beach. It'll be like magic. Whaddya say?"

Otto looked ready to crack at his self-appointed girlfriend's swooning. He was sweating so much; he could be the next Niagara Falls. He stuttered, trying to speak.

"I-I say… I-I say…"

"Yes?" Clio asked airily.

"I say forget the fight!" He yelled, skating away. "Chase after me all you want! There's _no_ way that's ever happening!"

And with that, he jumped off the building.

"Otto!" Clio ran over to the edge. She sighed with relief when she saw the younger hedgehog being carried away by Sam. Twister was hanging on to the fox's legs and Otto was holding on to the echidna's. The female stomped on the ground.

"Hey! Come back here!"

"Sorry! We got a tight schedule to keep! Bust!" Otto yelled, sticking his tongue out at her. The trio laughed as they flew away.

"Hey! You jumped so that means I win!" Clio shouted. "Come back here so we can make plans for our wedding!"

"No way!"

"Grrrrr!" Clio clenched her fists at her sides.

"Clio!" The hedgehog turned and grinned when she saw Keoni being lifted by Mackenzie. Cheese was flying nearby. The cat held his hand out. "Grab on!"

"Alright!" Clio cheered as she took his hand. With her free hand, she pointed at the fleeing Team Rocket. "After them!"

"What am I, your servant?" Mackenzie muttered. She flapped her ears faster and chased after the other trio.

Meanwhile…

"Man! I almost became the Ultimate Barbecue back there!" Lars complained, fanning his smoking tail. He was standing on top of a building with Pi and Reggie. The bat was panting after that experience in the power plant.

"You said it." She agreed, fanning herself. "It was hot in that storage tank and lifting _you_ two didn't help at all!" Lars glared at her.

"_Applying coolant._" Pi droned. "_Emergency alert has been cancelled._"

"We better hurry up and get out of here." Reggie said.

"Hmph. I guess there's nothing more to do here." Lars agreed, crossing his arms. "We haven't found Coconutman, Rocket Dork, _or_ a Chaos Emerald! It feels like we're just wasting time!" Reggie gave him a strange look.

"Why would you want another Chaos Emerald? You already got one so you could use Chaos Control." Lars gave her a scowl.

"Duh! If I get all seven of those beauties, nothing could stop me! I'll rule all the skate parks in the world and nobody, not even your dork brother, could stop me! Pahahahahahahahaha!!!" The bat sweatdropped at that proclamation.

"Why did I decide to go along with this?" She muttered, holding her head. "I don't even like you two!"

"_Pity?_" The robot suggested. Reggie scoffed.

"Not a chance."

"Hey, nobody's asking ya to stay with us. You can go ahead and fly back home. Me and Pi will take care of that old crank and get all the credit before Rocket Dork does."

"Nah." Reggie sighed. "I'll stick around a little longer. Who knows, I might find some cool treasure along the way." She shrugged.

"Suit yourself." The hedgehog said, turning away. "So how do we get out of here?"

"Beats me." Reggie said, looking around at all the flying cars soaring by. "We must be far from the edge of the city." Lars held a hand to his chin.

"Maybe—"

"_Intruder alert!_" Pi exclaimed. "_Unidentified life forms approaching!_" Lars and Reggie got into fighting poses, thinking that some of Dr. Coconutman's robots have come to attack them.

"Where are they?!" The hedgehog shouted.

"_Life forms are within striking distance._" Pi announced, bringing out his guns. The two animals looked around some more.

"From which direction?" Reggie asked.

"_Above._" The robot answered. The trio looked up and saw Little Scottie, Trent, and Eddie. The bee was carrying his teammates to the very building Lars and his partners were standing on. They landed a few feet from the other trio. Their backs were turned away from the hedgehog, robot, and bat.

"Are you sure this is where the tour bus is supposed to come?" Trent asked as they started walking.

"Of course!" Eddie replied, pulling back his mask. "I must've asked the lady at the information booth a million times!"

"Yay! We're finally going to go on the tour!" Scottie exclaimed. "This'll be fun!" The crocodile and chameleon sweatdropped and followed the dancing bee.

Meanwhile, Lars, Pi, and Reggie got out of their fighting poses and tried to get a better look at the other trio.

"Man, who are they!?" Reggie said, holding her hand over her eyes.

"Is it me or does that little kid flying around look familiar?" Lars asked, holding a hand to his chin.

"Now that you mention it, he does." The bat replied. "I think I've seen that other kid in the cape before too."

"_The bigger life form seems to strike something in my human memory._" Pi added.

"Yeah…" The bat and hedgehog said. A few seconds passed before their eyes widened. They turned to each other. "You don't think…!?"

The trio walked towards the detectives. They were about a few feet away when Eddie stopped his comrades. The chameleon got into a defensive pose and pulled down his mask. Trent and Scottie looked at him weirdly.

"What's the matter, Mr. Ninja?" The bee asked. Eddie sweatdropped, but didn't lose his fighting stance.

"And you would be…?" He said, turning around. Trent and Scottie looked and gasped at the other trio standing there. It was silent as the five furries and one robot looked at each other.

"…Reggie?" Trent was the first to speak.

"With _Lars_?!" Eddie yelled, pulling back his mask. The hedgehog laughed evilly.

"Well, well, if it isn't Eddie, prince of the Dork World! Pahahahahaha!!!" The ninja growled at him.

"That's _Nether_world!"

"Whatever!" Lars shot back. Reggie rolled her eyes and gave Trent a curious look.

"What are _you_ guys doing here?"

"The real question is what're _you_ doing here and with _him_?" The crocodile retorted, pointing at Lars. The bat crossed her arms.

"It's none of _your_ business! Besides, I asked you first."

"That's on a need-to-know basis." Trent said, sticking his nose in the air.

"And you don't need to know, interlopers." Eddie said in his creepy manner.

"You better tell us or else, dorks!" Lars shouted. He then blinked when he noticed the third member of the other trio. He was looking over Trent's shoulder. "Little Scottie!? What are _you_ doing here with these shoobies?"

"Hey!" Trent and Eddie yelled. Scottie flew from behind the crocodile.

"Hello, Cousin Lars…" He said in a polite tone laced with mild hate. He then grinned. "I'm playing Detective with my new friends!" He pointed at his partners, who sweatdropped.

"_Detectives?_ _Those_ two?" The hedgehog pointed at the two reptiles. "Tchhahahahahahaha!!!" He rolled along the ground as he laughed.

"_Initiating laughter…_" Pi added. A recording of canned laughter was heard shortly after. Even Reggie was stifling some chuckles.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?" Trent demanded. Lars took a deep breath as he stood. He wiped a tear from his left eye.

"Whew…" He smirked at the other team and gave them a sly look. "Don't you think you're a little too old to be playing Detective?" The croc glared at him.

"We're professionals. We're getting paid for being out here."

"In what, baby toys? Pahahahahahaha!!!" Trent growled at him as his face turned dark red in anger. He was about to stalk towards Lars when Scottie flew ahead of him with an amazed look on his face.

"Wow! What a cool toy!" He flew over to Pi and turned to his cousin. "Is this yours?" The hedgehog gave him an odd look before smirking evilly.

"Yep. It's all mine." Reggie gave him a suspicious look.

"What are you up to?" She asked. Lars held a finger to his lips.

"Quiet. I'm gonna enjoy this." He turned back to the bee, who was flying around the robot curiously.

"Ooooooohhhh…" He faced the hedgehog. "Does it have any cool weapons?" Lars chuckled mischievously as he rubbed his hands.

"Why of course it does. It's even got a cool flamethrower. Wanna see?" Reggie's eyes widened.

"WHAT!?! MMPH!!!" Lars grinned as he covered her mouth.

"Uh-huh!!!" Scottie nodded happily. Reggie struggled to get out of Lars' grip, but he was too strong.

"Ya heard 'im, Pi. Show 'im your flamethrower." He said.

"_Affirmative._" The robot complied, raising his left arm. His hand sunk into the wrist and a low light appeared within the hole. It started to grow brighter. Little Scottie oohed at the sight. Trent and Eddie's eyes widened as they realized what was happening.

"Save him before he becomes a shrimp on the barbie, mate!" The one in the bucket hat said, shoving the ninja forward.

"Right!" Eddie replied, skating towards the robot with the great speed all ninjas are born with.

The light in Pi's arm grew larger as the fire fought to be released. Scottie looked on with growing anticipation.

Reggie continued to struggle against Lars' grasp. He hanged on tight as he watched the scene unfold with great relish.

Eddie sped forward and closed the distance as he tried to save the child from becoming a fried bee.

The tiny insect covered his face as he finally noticed the growing heat. He still stayed where he was, waiting for the "toy's" flamethrower to launch. Pi was a few seconds away from firing. The flames were only moments away from spewing.

Just before Scottie could experience the robot's attack first hand, Eddie jumped and grabbed onto him! He landed and skated away before Pi let loose a stream of fire.

"Damn it!" Lars cursed, letting go of Reggie. He stomped the ground.

"Whew!" The bat sighed as she wiped her forehead.

"_Attack failed…_" Pi added.

"Duh!" The hedgehog shouted at the metallic one.

"Awwww! I missed it!" Scottie wailed as Eddie brought him back to Trent.

"Yo! What's your problem, mate!?" The leader roared at the other leader.

"Yeah! He's your _cousin_!" Reggie agreed, pointing at the bee in question. Lars didn't pay any attention though.

"Man… I was so close!" He groaned.

"Man, you're beyond lame." She said, crossing her arms. The hedgehog paid her no mind as he turned back to the detectives.

"You have some nerve trying to attack a fellow family member of yours!" Eddie said, getting into a fighting pose.

"Yeah! We'll teach ya a lesson before we get back to looking for Coconutman!" Trent added, punching his hand. Lars and Reggie gasped at that. Pi just simply said "Gasp."

"HEY! _We're_ going after him too!" Lars yelled, glaring at them.

"_Affirmative._" Pi added, shaking a fist. "_Total destruction for anyone who gets in our way._"

"Yeah! _We're_ gonna be the first ones to find him!" Reggie supplied, getting into a fighting stance. Trent blinked at her.

"_You_ wanna fight?" He chucked. "Sorry, Sheila, I don't want to fight you. Why don't you let the big boys play?" The bat's mouth hung open at that.

"Wh-what…did you…say!?!" She stared daggers at the croc. Her eyes flared with great fury. "You think that just because I'm a girl I can't fight!?!" Trent shrugged, unnerved by her extreme anger.

"Sure, if you wanna put it that way." Reggie gasped at the arrogance present in his voice. She retained her icy glare.

"That does it!" She turned to her comrades. Lars jumped into Pi's arms at the flames in her eyes. "You two ready!?!"

"Y-yes ma'am…" Lars nodded frightfully.

"_Initiating battle mode…_" Pi added, putting down his leader. The hedgehog sighed with relief when Reggie turned away.

"You're going down!" The bat roared at the crocodile.

"Hey, do _I_ have to fight too?" Little Scottie asked Eddie, who turned to him.

"Of course you do." The chameleon replied. Scottie gave a fearful look at the thought of actually fighting his big cousin, as well as the bat and the "cool toy." The ninja in training sensed his worry.

"Don't you want to get vengeance on that robot over there?" He flicked a thumb at Pi. The bee tilted his head in confusion.

"Ven…geance…?" Eddie sweatdropped.

"It means getting back at him." He said in his normal voice. "Don't you want to get back at him for almost frying you?" The bee put on an unsure look.

"I don't know…" The bigger kid slapped his head.

"Come on." He groaned. He grinned when he thought of something. He then said in his creepy voice. "Producer of honey, we _have_ to fight them."

"Why?" Scottie asked.

"Because they are our client's adversaries." The bee gasped.

"You mean Cousin Lars and Regina are the BAD GUYS!?" Eddie almost laughed at the proper form of the bat's name, but nodded grimly. Scottie shook his fist and saluted.

"Count me in! I don't like bad guys, no matter who they are!" He shouted, getting ready to battle.

"_Scanning for suitable location for battle…_" Pi started. "_Location found… Suitable battlefield twenty-five miles due west._"

He activated the rockets on his back and hovered westward. The others followed after him. They soon wound up at the same place Team Rocket and Team Rodriguez fought earlier. Needless to say, it was still damaged from the other two teams' confrontation.

"What a crummy place for a fight." Lars commented, looking around at all the damage. The debris from the destroyed crates; the upturned concrete. It seemed like a dangerous place for a battle.

"Who cares!?" Reggie shouted before turning to the other trio. "Let's get this started! I'm gonna whomp you so hard for doubting _me_!!!"

"Fine Sheila!" Trent replied, smirking. "But you better not cry when you get hurt." The bat returned the smirk.

"Oh, I think _you_ better be the one worrying about crying." The crocodile growled at that.

"Tchahahahahaha! You better get ready for the whomping of a lifetime!" Lars said to Eddie, who quivered slightly. "You'll be lucky if I even let you leave this city in one piece!"

"We'll see about that, overlord of pain and despair." Eddie retorted in his otherworldly voice.

"_Must defeat all opposition._" Pi droned.

"I-I ha-have to be b-brave for the t-team…" Scottie stuttered nervously. He put on a determined look. "Yeah. Remember, they're the bad guys and the good guys _always_ win, no matter what!"

**TEAM BATTLE #2**

**TEAM LARS VS. TEAM SHERLOCK**

Like in the previous team battle, both trios backed up until they were on opposite ends of the field.

"Come on! Let's do this!" Scottie yelled bravely, surprising everybody, including himself.

"Hmph!" Lars grunted, crossing his arms. "I like the enthusiasm, but _we're_ gonna win this thing!"

"Let's go!" Reggie said, taking the lead. The hedgehog scowled at the bat as they went into fly formation. He hung on to her feet while Pi grabbed on to Lars'. They flew towards the other team.

"I'll lead us off, mates!" Trent said, skating forward. Eddie and Scottie followed on either side of him. The bat gasped at them.

"Hey! Where'd you guys get those air skates from!?"

"None of your beeswax, you bad guys!" Scottie shouted, sticking his tongue out at them. Reggie glowered at him.

"Don't tell me they stole from Dad's shop, too!"

"Forget about that! We gotta fight 'em, remember!?" Lars yelled at her. She glared at him, causing him to shrink back.

"Watch it or I'll drop you." She growled. Lars returned the glare, but didn't say anything.

Trent reared back a fist as he got within striking distance of the bat and her group. He jumped and made to punch them. Reggie ascended out of the way in time and used Thunder Shoot on the crocodile by kicking Lars. The reptile dodged the electrified hedgehog with no problem. Unfortunately for him, Lars unrolled and landed a hard punch, driving him back a few feet.

"Take this, you villain!" Eddie said, reaching into his cape. He pulled out five ninja stars and launched them at the other team's leader.

Smirking, Lars skated forward, darting left and right to dodge the projectiles. He reached back a fist when he dodged the last star. Seeing that his attack failed, Eddie crossed his arms in front of himself. Mere seconds before Lars can strike, the ninja was wrapped in a pillar of wind and dead leaves. The hedgehog skidded to a stop, but it didn't help.

"Woah!" He yelled as he was blown away by the attack. He was thrown across the field towards the edge. He dragged his feet along the ground to stop himself from going over. When he got his footing back, he looked around. The others have stopped fighting and were on the sidelines, cheering their respective speed member on.

"Great! Where is he!?" He growled to himself. He turned to his power representative. "Hey Pi! Make yourself useful and do a heat scan or something!" The robot nodded.

"_Beginning heat scan of entire field…_" His eyes became a brighter red as he looked around. A few seconds passed before he turned to the hedgehog. "_No life forms detected._"

"What!?" Lars said.

::POW!::

The hedgehog grunted as he skidded into the middle of the field. He had just gotten kicked by Eddie. He got up and put up his fists as he looked around.

"Try it again, Pi! And don't screw up!"

"_Affirmative. Beginning heat scan…_" Again, Pi looked around the perimeter. "_No life forms detected._"

"Is your radar busted or something?! I can clearly see my cousin, Rocket Dork's sister, and that lame-o in the weird helmet!"

"Hey!" Trent protested.

::WHAM!::

"Ugh!" Lars muttered curses to himself as he held his stomach. "Pi…!"

"Hey Lars." Reggie interjected. She had her head propped up on an arm. She seemed to have a look of boredom.

The hedgehog was kicked halfway across the field.

"What!?" He picked himself up, only to come crashing down to the floor again.

"Just a quick question. What species is Eddie?"

Lars was flung across the field again.

"Ugh… Isn't he a lizard or something?"

His arm was grabbed and he was tossed left and right, kissing the floor every few seconds before getting tossed again.

"He's a chameleon, but that's beside the point. Now what have you learned about lizards?" The bat asked. Lars groaned as he sat up. He gave her an exasperated look.

"What are you, my science teacher?" He was kneed in the gut. "Ugh… Aren't they cold-blooded or something like that?"

"Yep." Reggie answered with a yawn.

"Are you going somewhere with this or what?!"

His face met the floor after getting hit by a sweep kick. The girl was just about fed up with her leader's incompetence.

"Duh! Eddie's cold-blooded, so a heat scan won't do squat!"

"Ya coulda said that sooner!" Lars shouted before he was spun around and bought to the ground again. The hedgehog got his second wind as he skated around to avoid Eddie. "So what do I do to get 'im off my back!?" Reggie shrugged.

"Beats me. I just wanted you to stop wasting your time getting Pi to use his heat scan." He fell over.

"Do me a favor and let me fight _my_ way, ok!?" He yelled. The bat crossed her arms.

"Suit yourself."

"Good." Lars smirked. "And I know just the thing to stop him." He pulled out his Chaos Emerald. Trent's eyes widened at the sight of the purple jewel.

"That looks just like the diamond we found in the energy plant." He commented, pulling out the yellow jewel.

"Wow. It's pretty." Scottie said. Lars held up the emerald.

"Chaos Control!"

The emerald flashed brightly, causing time to freeze around the hedgehog. He looked around and jumped back when he noticed Eddie. The chameleon was practically on top of him with his fist held out. Lars smirked at the ninja. He then held a hand to his chin.

"Now what do I do with this perfect opportunity? I _could_ just force him over the edge and be done with it, but nah. I wanna have some fun first."

He put away the emerald and backed up until he was nearly at the edge of the arena. When he was at a suitable distance, he skated head-on towards his opponent. When he was within range, he jumped and smashed his foot into the ninja's mask. Time unfroze and Eddie was thrown back far. His invisibility also expired. Trent's jaw dropped.

"No way! How did he do that!? I didn't even see him!"

"Ugh… How…?" Eddie grunted as he stood up. He took his mask off and inspected it. He sighed with relief. "Good. Still intact." He put it back on and glared coldly at Lars.

"I don't know how you found me, but it _won't_ happen again!" He declared, jumping up. "Leaf Whirl!"

The wind around him swirled, followed by some dead leaves. He was once again invisible to everyone. Lars looked around his surroundings, keeping a stern look. He smirked inwardly as he got ready to grab his emerald again. Out of nowhere, many shurikens flew. The hedgehog skated towards the lethal projectiles and rolled under them. The ninja stars flew over his head and fell towards the city below. The teen then heard the low hum of air skates. He didn't hesitate to pull out the emerald.

"Chaos Control!" He called.

Again, time froze, revealing Eddie. The so-called "prince" was about to pull out a shuriken at close range. The hedgehog grinned at the ninja's helplessness.

"Enough playing around. I better end this quick so that I can get to Stimpleton before Rocket Dork does."

He walked up to Eddie and grabbed his cape. With a grunt, he dragged the poor chameleon towards the edge of the battlefield. Once his task was completed, Lars took off his helmet and hat and wiped his sweaty head.

"Man, that kid's fat! Almost as much as the Squid, I bet." He put his hat back on and got ready to attack. He jumped up.

"Dark Twister!" He called, spinning around Eddie. Time unfroze as a purple funnel engulfed the caped ninja.

"Oh noooooooooooooo!!!" Eddie screamed as he got thrown far from the arena. "I failed!"

"No!!!" Trent and Little Scottie yelled, looking over the edge. They couldn't see their companion. With a low growl, the crocodile turned towards Lars, who was snickering at his victory.

"You'll pay for that."

And with that, he charged towards the hedgehog. Reggie gasped upon seeing her teammate in trouble. She turned to her other ally.

"Quick Pi! Launch me!"

"_Affirmative._" Pi responded, making his right hand go into his arm. The bat jumped into it as a ball. The robot targeted Trent, who was a few feet away from Lars, and fired.

As a fireball, Reggie sailed through the air. Trent was about to land a devastating punch when she crashed into him, sending him flying over the edge!

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

"I'll save you!" Scottie yelled, going after his leader. He went into a dive as he reached out for Trent. The reptile also reached out his hand. The bee soon grabbed him and started pulling him up with a grunt. When they got back on the battlefield, he panted as he slumped to the ground.

"Whew! Thanks a lot mate!" Trent said to the kid, who grinned tiredly.

"Wow… That was a good save." Reggie said to Lars. "I hope Little Scottie will be ok." The older one glared at her.

"Whose side are you on!? Get 'em!"

"_I shall lead. Initiate power formation._" Pi said, hovering towards Trent. Lars skated on his left while Reggie skated on his right. When Pi got close enough to the croc, he retracted his left hand and fired a barrage of bullets.

"Woah!" The other leader yelped, dodging the spray. The bullets went towards Scottie! When the bee saw the incoming attack, he scrambled to get away.

"Pi!" Lars shouted, shoving the robot. "Don't shoot him! He's my cousin!"

"Funny. _You're_ the one who wanted him to fry Scottie a few minutes ago." Reggie commented, giving him a sly look. Lars stuttered as he tried to think of an excuse.

"Hey! I was just playing before. My mom would kill me if he doesn't come back home alive!"

"Yeah right." The bat scoffed.

"I'm serious! I'd never—" The hedgehog was unable to finish for Trent landed a massive uppercut, driving him over the edge!

"That cheap little…!" Lars muttered curses as he took out his emerald. "Chaos Control!" He flashed a bright purple and disappeared. He shocked the remaining members of Team Sherlock when he reappeared on the field. He fixed the leader with a glare as he crossed his arms.

"Ha! Thought you could get rid of me easily, huh!?" Trent gaped at him.

"I…I don't believe it… That was my best punch and he just got back up here…"

"So, _mate_," Reggie mocked. "You ready to surrender or what?" Trent shook off his shock and scowled at her.

"I'm not through yet, Sheila!" He turned to Scottie, who was airborne again. "Let's go!" The bee clenched both of his fists.

"Right!"

The pair switched to fly formation and flew towards the trio. When they got close enough, Scottie used Thunder Shoot, surprising Reggie.

"What the—!?" She shouted as she flew to dodge Trent. "How did you do that move, Scottie!?" The bee blinked.

"I just kicked him." He simply said, pointing at his feet. The bat gasped when she noticed the attachments. She slapped her head as Trent came back to Scottie.

"Oh man. Squid is gonna kill me when he finds out that some of his inventions were stolen."

"Ha! Defenseless!" Lars shouted as he skated up to Scottie and Trent. Without warning, he used Dark Twister. The insect and reptile were spun around by the vortex and tossed out of the arena.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!" They both screamed. Trent fell to the city below, but Scottie righted himself and flew back to the other team. He looked terrified as they glowered at him with their cold eyes.

"Oh no… I'm all alone… What am I going to do…?" He blinked. "Hey wait! I'm a bee! I'll just sting them!"

With his plan set, he blasted towards Pi with his stinger sticking out.

"Hee-yah!!!" He yelled just before making contact. Unfortunately, he only bounced off the robot's steel-plated body. That didn't stop him though. He continued trying to sting Pi. His attacks had no effect though. He stopped and panted.

"Why isn't he screaming in pain?" He muttered to himself. With an exasperated look etched on his face, Lars snapped his fingers. Pi retracted his left hand and targeted the bee with his flamethrower. Scottie sweatdropped.

"I suggest you get out of here." Lars said, crossing his arms. He looked the other way. "Go back to those other guys and STICK with them! You better come home unharmed, got it?" The bee turned to him and nodded.

"Ok…" He then flew away, mentally wondering how the good guys could actually lose.

"That was a nice thing you did, Lars." Reggie commented, smiling at him.

"Hmph! Whatever." The hedgehog grunted with a slight flush of embarrassment. He started walking. "Let's go! We still gotta find Mr. Stimpleton before _they_ do!"

"Heh. Whatever you say." The bat said with a knowing smirk as she ascended into the air. The trio went into fly formation and soared out of the city.

-------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

Static appeared onscreen for a few seconds before the studio was seen. Everything was wrecked. The screen was cracked and smoking, the furniture was destroyed, and numerous holes littered the floor. Izzy and I were lying on the stage while Iggy, back to his normal size, stumbled around dizzily. All of our eyes were two swirls as our tongues stuck out.

"Ooooohhhh…" Iggy groaned, holding his head. "My head hurts…" He blinked and looked all around at the damage. "Woah… What happened here?"

"Note to self:" I said, getting up. "_Never_ give Iggy sugar again…"

"Is it over?" Izzy asked, getting up as well.

"Daddy… Why does my head hurt so much?" Iggy moaned as he walked up to me and Izzy.

"I guess you got a hangover from all that sugar." I replied with a shrug. Izzy then grabbed me by the shirt.

"Don't you ever do that again!" He shouted. "I almost became a pancake because of that stunt you pulled!"

"Ack! Not so loud!" Iggy yelled, covering his ears. He started walking out of the room. "I need some aspirin…"

The door slammed and we sweatdropped as we heard the hedgehog groaning in pain. A few moments passed before I glowered at Izzy.

"Ok, you can let me go now." I told him. The furry released me from his grip, causing me to fall on my butt. "Ow!"

"Ugh… I knew he was crazy, but damn! He's nuts!"

"Just don't give him any sugar and we'll be fine." I said, rolling my eyes as I turned to the camera. "Anyway, that's all for now. The only team we haven't done commentary for is Team Lars. Will they get through the next stage? Tune in next time!"


	11. Zorbing through the Casino, Pt 1

Pre-chapter Conversation

It was a lovely day outside the studio, which lay on the outskirts of Ocean Shores. The sun, if you can imagine it being visible, was shining, the birds were singing, the bees were buzzing. It was truly a fine day.

A mailman was heading towards the front door, where the mailbox was placed. The mailbox was a basic red one. A blue flag was on the side. The postal worker was humming a familiar tune.

"Oh we are riders on a mission… Do, do, do, dum…" He whistled as he reached into his bag. He pulled out some envelopes as he walked up to the mailbox. He stretched his hand out and opened the box.

"HI, MR. MAILMAN!!!" Iggy screamed, poking his head out of the box. The man's eyes widened in fright.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" He shrieked as he ran off, dropping the letters. The hedgehog blinked after him.

"Hmmm, wonder what's eating him."

With a shrug, he grabbed the sides of the mailbox and pushed himself out of it. He dusted himself off and grabbed the various letters. He looked over all the envelopes. He blinked before a wide grin appeared. He gave a giddy laugh before skating inside the front door. His air skates levitated him as he glided through the hall, which was filled with various statues and portraits. They each depicted something from my previous fics.

Most of the statues were of Izzy in a different role. One had him as the Digimon Emperor. Another portrayed him as his hedgehog self. The biggest statue in the room was of when he split in two back in Dimension Hoppers 4. It showed what seemed to be half of two Izzys coming apart from each other. They were both in excruciating pain. At the base was just one pair of legs, which they were trying to get out of. It always gave Iggy the creeps whenever he looked at it. He loved his big brother too much to see him in any pain.

The hedgehog shook his head and continued on. He then took notice of the portraits. Unlike the statues, these depicted scenes from past fics. The majority of them were fight scenes from The Runaway and Rocketmon. Of course, plenty of them were pictures of kissing scenes from my various slash fics. They involved Otto and either of the Rodriguez Brothers in a passionate lip lock. A couple also had Sam and Twister trading spit.

Strangely, the grandest picture in the hall was of Izzy and Keoni. The portrait of the two lovebirds sharing their first kiss was clearly bigger than the rest. It was surrounded in a beautiful golden frame. It was surrounded on all sides by lights, illuminating every single solitary detail. On the bottom of the picture was a plaque that had the words, "Izzy and Keoni forever" engraved into it. Two security guards were standing on either side of it. They were armed with guns, night sticks, and tazers.

The hedgehog sweatdropped.

"When is he gonna admit it?"

Shaking his head, he continued his trek towards the office, where he was sure to find me and Izzy. The reason why he was going to the office was because the main studio was being repaired following the little hedgehog's descent into hyperness. He passed the main studio's double doors behind which different noises can be heard. Banging, crashing, hammer pounds, and the occasional spatter of what Iggy thought was cement were heard. He skated past a few more portraits before reaching a wooden door that read, "Office" on a pane of glass.

On the other side of the door…

"Let's see…" I said, clicking on a computer on my desk. "If I put that building there and got rid of this—"

There was a knock on the door.

"Yeah?" I said, looking up. The door creaked open and Iggy entered. "Oh Iggy, hey. What's up?"

"Hmmm… I don't think I've ever been in here before…" The hedgehog said, looking around.

The room was very spacious. It was like being in a suite in a hotel. To Iggy's right was a big screen TV that had a Gamecube connected to it. A plush cream sofa was in front of it. To his left was a black leather sofa as well as a bookshelf. Potted palm trees were in every corner of the room. In front of him was the desk I was sitting behind. It was made from oak. On top of it was a black computer, as well as various knickknacks, all Sonic related. I was sitting in a comfortable office chair. In front of the desk was a pair of chairs. Next to the desk was a glass case containing the Chaos Emeralds from the Sonic dimension. A window was behind me, letting the sunlight in. A small chandelier was hanging above the center of the room.

"Yeah… I really should've showed you this room." I admitted, rubbing the back of my head.

"Hey, where's Izzy at?" Iggy asked as he walked up to the desk and placed the mail down.

"Oh, he's taking care of something I forgot to do earlier in the fic." I replied. Iggy gasped when he took another look at the emeralds.

"Hey! One of them's missing!"

He pointed at the case, which had all but the gray emerald inside.

"Don't worry about it." I said coolly. "Izzy's got it."

"By the way, why are the emeralds here in the first place?"

"I had to move them from the studio when the contractors came to repair it." I answered, going back to working on the computer. Iggy gave me a curious look.

"Hey, what are ya working on, Daddy?" He asked, walking around the desk.

"I'm working on an atlas."

I turned the monitor towards him, which displayed a map. On the right side was Ocean Shores while on the left was what looked like a small village. Various buildings and houses were placed randomly. Separating the village from the town was a tall mountain that had colossal statues of Otto, Twister, Reggie, and Sam built into the side facing the village. At the peak was what looked like a temple of sorts.

"Ummm… An atlas for what?" The hedgehog asked, keeping that perplexed look on him.

"I'll tell ya later. We better start the chapter." I said, turning to the camera. "For the first part of this chapter, we're _finally_ gonna follow Team Lars as they enter my favorite stage in the game, Casino Park. I'm really gonna have fun doing this chapter because I get to play with Lars, who's playing as Shadow, so that's like portraying two of my favorite characters at once! Before we begin, I'd like to say that if you're a fan of Reggie, you may not like this chapter too much."

"Why?" Iggy asked.

"Well… I can't really explain. Just take a look at the chapter and you'll see what I mean." I smirked. "Also, this chapter will contain a major reference to one of the RP movies. Which one will it be and how will it be used? Can the trio get through the stage and win the jackpot without killing each other? Find out today!"

"Oh by the way, reviewer responses will be done at the end of the chapter." Iggy explained, waving at the camera.

-------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Eight

Zorbing through the Casino

Part One

**Stage Five: Casino Park**

**Mission****: Play the giant slots while listening to the cool theme!**

After speeding through the desert, Lars, Reggie, and Pi have reached the casino capitol of the country, Las Vegas, Nevada! They were walking around on one of the many rooftops in the city. They were miles above the neon metropolis. Looking over the edge, they noticed many light fixtures that were shaped like three sevens that were lined up side by side, roulette tables, dice, and slot machines. Surrounding them were neon fixtures of differing designs. They were bright and sported a flame pattern for the most part. Most of the buildings had giant slot machines built into them. Some of them had giant casino chips on their roofs. It was a clear, starry night.

"Hmph! I can't believe that little twerp is in on this too!" The hedgehog complained, clenching his fists. "My mom's gonna kill me when we get back home!" Reggie only rolled her eyes.

"That's the hundredth time you said that since we left that city!"

"So?!" Lars yelled, turning to her. "How could Little Scottie get roped into this chase!? Not to mention he's stuck with the dork in the mask and your boyfriend!" The bat blushed and glared at him.

"He is _not_ my boyfriend!" She denied, turning away with her arms crossed. "The nerve! _Him_ of all people! He has no respect for girls at all! He makes me sick!" The taller violet one smirked teasingly at her.

"I bet." was all he said before walking forward.

"I'm serious, Lars! He means nothing to me!" The bat roared, stomping her feet.

"Does it look like I care?!" Lars retorted.

If Pi was his human self again, he'd roll his eyes at their argument. Then again, if he _was_ his human self again, he'd be as dumb as a post, so he probably wouldn't even understand what they were going on about.

They got a few steps forward when his head shot up.

"_Enemies detected two hundred meters ahead! Prepare to initiate battle mode!_"

"Finally! Time for some action!" The hedgehog shouted, skating forward. The robot ran after him.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Reggie yelled, skating after them.

As they skated/ran towards an alcove, a cheerful song started playing. As soon as the melody entered their minds, they felt more energetic. The fast beat gave them great energy. If it wasn't for their objective, they would've gladly danced.

"No I wouldn't!" Lars yelled.

(Me: Silence mortal!)

Where was I? Oh right! The harmonious song filled their souls with glee. Their current worries about finding Dr. Coconutman & more Chaos Emeralds were lost to the music. The song—

"ENOUGH!!!" The trio roared.

(Me: Alright, alright! Sheesh! Anyway, if ya couldn't tell, I LOVE the music for this stage!)

Now then, the trio entered the alcove, which had springs on the floor. Upon hitting them, they were sent up a shaft to a platform. The floor looked like the betting table for a casino game (maybe Blackjack or Craps). In front of them were a coconut pawn, a hint ring, and a cannon. The coconut pawn looked much different from the ones they've encountered so far. Instead of being red, it was gray. Its body was built to make it look like it was wearing a tuxedo. The bowtie on its chest was blinking yellow. Lars immediately took care of it with a couple of homing attacks. That was when the trio took a look at their surroundings.

"Woah! What's up with this!?" The leader shouted.

In front of them, across a wide gap, was a giant pinball table. Its frame was green and the top half of the interior was purple. The bottom half was transparent and had a design that was shaped like a flame. Among the designs on the table were cards and card suits. There were flippers and ball-shaped springs, as well as several neon panels. They were small, green, and had a star pictured on them.

"How are we supposed to get through _that_!?" Reggie added.

"_Perhaps accessing the hint ring will guide us._" Pi answered.

"Better see what it says. Bet it's another lame comic." Lars said, walking up to it. He held his hand out towards the ring, but nothing happened. No piece of paper fell into his hand. "What the—!?"

"Ugh! Finally! I thought nobody would ever get here!" A voice yelled. It came from…the hint ring? The trio backed away as the ring glowed with a blinding light. Reggie and Lars covered their eyes. When the light dissipated, the two furries put down their hands and gasped.

Standing before them was a hedgehog. Like Lars, he was purple and wearing a pair of air skates. He was as tall as the other boy. The quills on his head were sticking out in different directions. They also went up at the tips. There were black highlights in them. Like Otto, a circle of tanned skin was present on his chest. Finally, he was wearing a red vest. The trio blinked as the new furry stretched his legs.

"I can't believe the boss locked me in that thing!" He complained as he stretched his back. He shook his arms before turning to the others with a smirk. "Well, it looks like _you're_ the first ones to get here!"

The threesome was still confused.

"Uhhh… Who are you?" Reggie asked.

"The name's Izzy." The hedgehog replied, bowing before her. He then crossed his arms. "Because of the boss's forgetfulness and all around stupidity, I gotta provide you with a tool to help ya get through that pinball table." He flicked a thumb at the obstacle ahead.

"Well, whatcha got?" Lars asked.

Izzy reached into a pocket of his vest and pulled out three bracelets. They were silver and had a blue jewel embedded in each of them. On the inside were some computer circuits. He handed them to the trio, who looked at them confusedly.

"_Identify the purpose of these implements._" Pi requested. Izzy again crossed his arms.

"Those machines will project an energy shield around you whenever you enter one of the many pinball tables in the city." He explained. "They'll allow you to roll around in them as balls."

"Why would we need these ugly things for?!" Lars demanded. "I'm a hedgehog, so I won't need it!" Izzy rolled his eyes and glared at him.

"Look! I'm not the one who wanted you guys to wear 'em!" He answered before turning to the pinball table. "Besides, you could be stuck in those tables for a long time." He looked back at them. "Look on the bright side. You won't have to worry about experiencing any back injuries."

"There's gotta be more to this than just avoiding injuring our backs." Reggie said suspiciously.

"Does _everything_ always have to have a double meaning with you?" Izzy sighed. "Anyway, if you must know, this is supposed to have something to do with the whole extreme sport aspect of the show." The bat gave him a confused look.

"How?"

"Figure it out yourself! I already did my job, so I'm outta here!"

And with that, the hedgehog pulled out the gray Chaos Emerald, causing Lars to gasp.

"Hey! Gimme that emerald!" He ordered. Izzy smirked as he shook a condoling finger.

"Sorry. This emerald's being borrowed from another dimension."

Before Lars could strike, he tossed the emerald and caught it, giving it a tight squeeze.

"Chaos Control!" He disappeared in a flash of gray light. The other hedgehog stomped the ground.

"No! I missed getting another emerald!" He cursed.

(Me: Didn't you hear him?! That emerald didn't belong to your dimension! You still got the rest of the game to get through, so get moving!)

Lars sulked as he, Reggie, and Pi put the bracelets on their left wrists. The jewel on each one glowed for a bit before dimming again.

"I wonder how they work." The bat said, looking at hers.

"_The surly life form said that we have to enter a pinball table._" The robot answered.

"So let's go already!" Lars commanded, jumping into the cannon. Reggie and Pi followed suit. The cannon targeted the pinball table and fired the trio out as balls.

As the trio neared the table, the jewels on their bracelets glowed brightly. Seconds later, spherical barriers of differing colors surrounded them. Lars and Reggie's were purple while Pi's was blue. Instantly, the trio's arms and legs were bound by ropes that were attached to the corners of the spheres. Safety harnesses materialized and restrained their bodies. Joy sticks appeared by their hands.

They landed on the table and rolled around on it. They all separated due to their momentum. They all bounced around the table due to the bumpers.

"Hey! Get back in formation!" The hedgehog yelled. The others were able to hear his voice clearly, despite the noise caused by their rolling.

"We can't!" Reggie replied. "It's hard to control ourselves!" She then blinked. "Hard to control ourselves… That's it!"

"_What's it?_" Pi asked.

"I get what that guy was talking about before! I remember riding in something like this when Otto, Twist, Sam, and I were in New Zealand." The bat replied, causing Lars to growl.

"They always get lucky…" He grumbled.

"I heard that. Anyway, these are just like the zorbs we raced in!"

"That's all well and good, but how do we control these things!?!"

Just then, a holographic screen turned on in front of each of them. The picture was staticy for a few seconds before Izzy appeared on screen.

"_Man! I knew I forgot to mention something!_" He said, slapping his forehead. "_In order to move around in the zorbs, you gotta lean your bodies in the direction you wanna go._"

"Finally!" Lars shouted, leaning his body to the right. He hit a spring that propelled him higher on the board.

"But what's with the joy sticks?" Reggie asked as she and Pi followed suit.

"_They control the flippers on the pinball tables._" Izzy answered. "_When you're near one, you press the corresponding button to make the flipper hit you._ _The left button controls the left flipper while the right button is for the right flipper._"

"Duh!" Lars said. The hedgehog on screen sneered at him.

"_But what if there is only one flipper?_" Pi asked.

"_Then either button will work._" Izzy replied. "_One more thing, you probably figured this out by now, but the zorbs have a built-in radio so you can keep constant contact._"

"Again, duh!" Lars yelled. Izzy rolled his eyes as the transmission ended. The screen faded, allowing the trio to see the pinball table.

"Come on, you guys! Let's get outta here!" Reggie said to her partners. They were all nearing a flipper.

Since Lars was in front of Reggie and Pi, he hit one of the buttons, causing the flipper to slap all three of them upwards. They hit one of the bumpers and went towards another flipper. Lars again hit the button, forcing the flipper to smack them past the flippers. They rolled towards an alcove. There was a hole in the corner that had two red panels. They hit them once, causing them to disappear. They bounced off the panels towards a couple of springs. After hitting them, the group was able to get out of the table. They were approaching a platform that had a red carpet over a checkered floor. As they fell towards it, their zorbs disappeared, allowing them to straighten themselves out and land safely.

"Oh man… So dizzy…" Lars groaned as he stumbled around. Reggie held her head to stop the world from spinning.

"Ugh… Well, _that_ was different from zorb racing…" She offered.

"_Incoming resistance!_" Pi announced. It seemed that he wasn't affected by the nauseating experience. The bat and hedgehog shook their heads and looked ahead.

In front of them were three coconut pawns that were in a triangle formation. Like the one they encountered earlier, the center one was gray, but the other two looked different than usual. They were pink and had bunny ears on their heads.

"Man, what's with these robots!?" Lars shouted.

"Guess it's to fit the theme." Reggie answered, giving the pink ones a weirded out look. "But that's going a bit too far. Deal with them, Pi!"

"_Right._" The robot complied, charging forward. He punched out the robots with minimal trouble. Lars took the lead and went up a small staircase, which had a green coconut pawn at the top. This one had a mohawk-like light fixture on its head. It was also holding a gun.

Shaking his head at the design of the robot, the hedgehog took care of it with a homing attack. A yellow power core fell out of it, giving Reggie her first level-up. The trio looked ahead. At the end of the hall was a path made up of the panels they saw at the pinball table. The path led straight ahead towards a platform. On the third panel was a coconut pawn.

"Doesn't look like we can move on." Reggie said. Lars rolled his eyes at her.

"Yeah right! Let's go!"

The trio skated/ran to the end of the hall and jumped. One by one, they landed on the first panel and bounced off it as balls. Lars allowed himself to move through the air a bit before launching himself at the coconut pawn. They continued bouncing off the panels until they reached the platform, where another of the pudgy robots was waiting. The hedgehog took care of it, allowing him and his teammates to land successfully. The team looked around themselves. There didn't seem to be any way to proceed.

"Well now what, Fearless Leader?" Reggie asked slyly, crossing her arms. Lars sneered at her.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" He replied, holding a hand to his chin.

"_Light speed dash required to move forward._" Pi droned. The bat and hedgehog turned to him.

"The light speed dash?" Lars asked.

"How?" Reggie added. The robot simply pointed up. The two furries looked. Above them was a ball-shaped spring. Floating above that was a row of rings. They stretched out over the city below and towards an alcove. The animals turned to each other.

"Guess there _is_ a way to continue, huh?" The hedgehog asked. The bat only scowled at him.

"Yeah… So let's go already!" She yelled, causing Lars to cover his ears.

"Alright! Sheesh!" He turned towards the obstacle. "Get ready!" Reggie and Pi stood behind him as he bent his legs, getting ready to jump.

They all jumped up and hit the spring, causing the hedgehog and his teammates to bounce off it as balls. When they were level with the row of rings, Lars used his light speed dash to skate through them and up to the platform. Thanks to his slipstream, the bat and robot were pulled along for the ride. They all made it to the alcove. Awaiting them were a turtle bot and two coconut pawns. As soon as they landed, the robots activated and made to attack.

"Pi! Attack them and make it quick!" Lars ordered.

"_Affirmative._" Pi replied, taking the lead. "_Prepare for Fire Launcher._" Lars and Reggie jumped into his hands and spun around.

The coconut pawns charged towards them while the turtle bot charged its cannon. The black and blue robot jumped and targeted the turtle first. He launched Lars at it. The hedgehog became engulfed in fire as he sailed through the air. He crashed into the robot, destroying it. A red power core fell out of it, giving him his first level-up. Before the coconut pawns can ram into Pi, he fired Reggie, taking care of them instantly.

"_Threat neutralized._"

"Well now what?" Lars asked, looking around. Ahead was a door that had a switch by it. "Guess we gotta push it." He walked over and grabbed it.

With a slight grunt, he pushed the switch into the wall, causing the door to open. Ahead of the team was a small hall that ended with a window. Under it, the floor was made of glass. Patrolling the room was a coconut pawn.

"Looks like we need ya again, Pi." Reggie said. The robot merely nodded and charged towards the pawn. Without warning, he punched out the offending automaton. The bat and hedgehog rejoined him and walked over to the glass-floor. They looked out the window and noticed the road ahead. It seemed that they had to go down a pinball table to get to an even bigger one.

"Ugh… We gotta get in those zorb things again?" Lars groaned.

"Looks like it." Reggie said, rolling her eyes. "But how do we even get on the table?"

"_Leave it to me._" Pi answered, winding up his fist. Lars and Reggie's eyes widened when they realized what he was about to do.

"Pi! Wait!" They both yelled, but it was too late.

::CRASH!::

The robot had slammed his fist into the floor and shattered it, causing all three of them to fall towards the table.

"What the hell?!" Lars demanded. The robot only shrugged.

"_We needed to get down._" He said.

"Not like this ya dork!" Reggie shouted.

As they neared the table, their bracelets activated, causing them to be surrounded in the zorbs. Their limbs and bodies were restrained again. They gripped the flipper controls tightly and got ready for another dizzying ride. They landed and rolled down the steep slope, hitting a few bumpers. The team traveled a little further when they hit some panels. Lars slipped through, but Reggie and Pi bounced off two of the panels, changing them from green to yellow. They hit them one more time, turning them red. One more hit cleared the way for them.

Meanwhile, the leader of the group reached another blockade. Three panels were blocking the routes to the other pinball table. Coconut pawns were stationed in front of them. Lars rammed his zorb into the one guarding the left panel and destroyed it. An orange power core fell out of it, but he had bounced away and concentrated on the middle lane. Pi saw the glowing sphere and rolled towards it. The core entered his zorb and increased his energy. He hit the panel, making it turn yellow. He bounced a short distance and leaned forward, making him hit it again. The panel turned red. The robot repeated the maneuver one more time and broke through.

"_Follow me._" He said to his teammates. Lars and Reggie did as they were told and followed him into the left lane. As the track winded right, the trio got a good look at the new pinball table.

It had several sections. The center had a giant slot machine and several flippers. An area above it had the path to the rest of the park. The left section had a slot machine that only had one reel in it, as well as several bumpers. The right side, which they were heading towards, also had a one-reel slot machine and more bumpers. Some of the bumpers on the board were ball-shaped. Others were shaped like triangles and placed on the sides of the table. Also present were several lanes and arrows, which pointed in random directions.

"Man, what a colorful board!" Reggie commented.

"Heh. It looks like we get to gamble!" Lars cheered.

"Please! They wouldn't allow kids to go into those things! I betcha they're blocked off or something."

"Yeah right!" The hedgehog scoffed. "If they didn't allow kids into those things, they wouldn't have even let us in here!"

"_Approaching table,_" Pi started. "_Plotting quickest route out…_"

"Forget it Pi! I want some cash!"

"Don't you _ever_ stop!?" Reggie started exasperatedly. "I swear you're worse than Otto!"

"DON'T YOU EVER COMPARE ME TO ROCKET DORK!!!" Lars roared. "I'm the leader and if I say we're gonna gamble, then we're gonna gamble! Got it!?!"

"Whatever." The bat answered, rolling her eyes.

"_Don't forget the mission. We have to concentrate on finding Coconutman!_" Pi reminded.

"I _know_! I don't need _you_ to remind me!" Lars shouted. He then smirked. "But it couldn't hurt to get some spending cash first. We might even win the jackpot."

They were closing in on the table.

"Here we go!" Reggie shouted.

The trio landed on the right section of the table. Lars took the lead as he tried to pilot his zorb into the big slot machine. The team hit one of the arrows, which served as a boost pad. They were propelled into the center towards the slot machine. The group hit another arrow that was over the machine and was sent inside. The three reels started spinning.

Inside the machine, the group was let out of their zorbs. Three of the walls were green while the one in front of them had the reels. Under each one was a red square-shaped button, which was blinking. Nearby was a hint ring. Lars turned to Reggie.

"Hurry up and see what it says! I want some dinero!" He said, rubbing his thumb, pointing finger, and middle finger together. The female rolled her eyes and walked up to the ring. She grabbed the paper that materialized and took a look.

"It looks like instructions for the machine and a list of the prizes." She said. "'In order to stop the reels from spinning, hit each of the buttons. Depending on the arrangement of the panels, you'll win some rings. If there are multiple balls in the machine, the prizes are multiplied by the number.'"

"So what are the prizes?"

"I'm getting to that!" Reggie yelled.

On the paper below the instructions were different symbols. At the top were three speed formation symbols. In case you don't remember, the speed symbol is a red circle that has a gust of wind at the top of it. Next to the symbols was the number fifty. Underneath it were three power formation symbols. If you need a quick refresher, the power symbol is an orange circle that has fire at the top. There was a number thirty next to them. Next up was the fly formation symbols. That symbol is a yellow circle that has a bolt of lightning at the top. Next to them was the number twenty. Beneath them were three rings. Next to them was the number ten. Under them were three sevens. Next to them was the number one hundred. The next set of symbols was three Team Blast symbols. In parentheses was the word "wild" and next to that was the number two hundred.

"That must be the jackpot." Lars said. Reggie nodded.

"Also they're wild. So if two power symbols and one Team Blast symbol appear, we'll get thirty rings."

"_Plus, because all three of us are inside, we'll get ninety rings._" Pi added.

"Yeah, yeah! I got it! So let's go!" Lars shouted greedily.

"Hang on. There's one more thing" Reggie started, reading from the paper again. "'Beware of the Coconutman symbols. If the Coconutman symbols appear and match, you'll lose fifty rings.'" She gulped. "That means we'll lose a hundred fifty rings. We'll owe the casino if we screw up!"

"Chill, lame-o." Lars started, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm too lucky to mess up." He puffed out his chest, causing the bat to glare at him.

"Lars, shut up." She simply said. The hedgehog growled and shook his fist at her.

"Enough stalling! Let's get ready to hit those buttons!" He ordered, walking up to the leftmost button. Reggie went to the center and Pi took the rightmost one. "On the count of three. One…"

"_Two…_" Pi continued.

"Three!" Reggie finished.

The trio pushed the buttons at the same time, causing the reels to stop. A jingle played as a hundred fifty rings were dumped in front of them. However, none of them picked up the gold circles. Lars and Reggie gaped at the reels while Pi just looked at them. They stayed silent for a few more seconds before the hedgehog spoke.

"R-Reggie…?"

"Y-Yeah…?"

"Have you and your family come here before?"

They turned to each other.

"No…" The bat replied, shaking her head. Lars put on a calm look.

"Ok. Then tell me one little thing." He started nicely. "**WHAT IS YOUR DORK BROTHER DOING ON THAT MACHINE!?!**"

He pointed at the slots, which all had Otto's smirking face on it!

"How am I supposed to know!?" Reggie retorted.

"You're his sister!!! You're supposed to know these things!!!"

"I had no idea!"

They then started yelling at each other. Pi sweatdropped and got in between them to prevent them from getting physical.

"_Perhaps asking the author will shed some light._"

(Me: Do ya _always_ have to bring me into it!? Anyway, it's like this: Otto's playing as Sonic. Sonic's face appears on the slots in this and the next stage. Do the math!)

"I don't believe this…" Lars grumbled, shaking his head as he looked up. "Do you mean to tell me I have to see his face for the rest of this stage?"

(Me: And the next one, yeah.)

"Ugh!" Both animals groaned, slapping their heads.

'_Thank God Otto's not in on this._' Reggie thought. '_His head would swell a million times its normal size!_'

"Come on. We better grab these rings and get outta here." Lars said. He grabbed the rings, causing Pi to react.

"_Team Blast meter fully charged._" He informed. The hedgehog snickered evilly.

"Guess Rocket Dork was worth something after all."

Just then, the floor opened up underneath them, allowing them to reenter the table.

Their bracelets reacted and encased the trio in the zorbs again. They bounced all over the table, hitting bumpers and any coconut pawns that were unlucky enough to be standing in the table.

"C'mon! Let's get outta here!" Lars yelled, surprising Reggie.

"What the matter," She started with a smirk. "Jealous that Otto's featured on the slots?" She snickered. The hedgehog went red with anger.

"Of course not! I just lost my interest in getting cash! Let's go!"

The group bounced around for a few more minutes before meeting in the center again. Since Pi was closest to a flipper, he pressed both buttons on his controls, causing all three of them to get launched into the upper area of the table. Aiming for the tunnel out of the area, Lars hit the right button, propelling him into the tunnel and out of the table.

While his teammates were busy trying to follow him, he landed on a platform. Ahead of him was the first checkpoint of the stage, as well as a wall. In an alcove, a coconut pawn was stationed with a gun in its hand. In front of the alcove was a red lift designed like a die. It stretched up and then back down every few seconds. A fly formation signal was floating nearby.

"Hmph! Guess I gotta wait for Rocket Dork's sister." He grumbled, crossing his arms. He activated the checkpoint and got his second level-up. He then stood there and waited for Reggie and Pi to join him. The bat and robot soon left the pinball table and joined the hedgehog. "Took ya long enough!"

"Shut up and let's go!" Reggie retorted. Lars muttered curses to himself as he skated ahead. He took care of the coconut pawn with a single homing attack.

"_We must go up._" Pi said, earning himself a glare from the others.

"Duh!" The bat yelled. That outburst earned herself Pi's gun barrel in her face. She scowled as she shoved it away from her. "Hang on!" The trio switched to fly formation. Lars held on to Reggie's feet while Pi held on to his.

When the die was at its lowest point again, the bat flapped her wings and flew over it. Pi planted his feet firmly. The lift stretched up, allowing them to enter the next room. In front of them were two turtle bots, who were charging energy. A third one, which was gold, was waiting atop a small flight of stairs.

"Woah!" Lars yelled as Reggie took flight, just barely avoiding the energy rings. He looked down at Pi. "Take care of those tin buckets!"

"_Understood._" The robot answered, letting go. He retracted his hands and shot his machine guns at the green turtle bots, destroying them. A yellow power core fell out of the second robot, allowing Reggie to get her second level-up. Pi charged up the stairs and punched the gold bot. However, he couldn't make a dent in it.

"_Does not compute!_" He said.

He continued punching in an attempt to destroy the robot, but he didn't make any progress. Meanwhile, the turtle bot targeted him and charged energy into its cannon. Before Pi knew it, he was blasted into the wall. Lars and Reggie cringed at the sight. The bat then smirked and crossed her arms.

"That's what you get! Don't you remember when we came across these things in that power plant?! Their shells are too strong until you fully level up!"

"Duh, you dork!" Lars added. "I'll take care of this!"

He skated up to the offending robot and used his Dark Twister attack. The purple tornado tossed the turtle up a short distance. It landed on its shell, allowing the hedgehog to deliver the final blow with a homing attack. With the robot out of the way, Reggie and Lars turned their attention to their teammate. They each grabbed a hand and pulled Pi out of the indent.

"_Thank you._" The robot said monotonously.

"Whatever." Lars replied, crossing his arms. "Let's move!"

They walked up to the end of the room. Ahead was a gong-like device. Nearby was a hint ring. Outside, across a chasm, was a roulette table that had several coconut pawns stationed around the center. In order to get inside, you have to go through a ramp that was high up.

"Great! How are we supposed to get up there!?" Reggie exclaimed. "There's no way I can lift the both of you over there, even _with_ Sam's strength intensifier!"

"_Perhaps hitting the—_"

"Don't tell me," Lars started, interrupting Pi. "You want us to hit the hint ring, right?"

"_Actually, I was going to say that I should hit that device while you two hang on to my fists to advance forward._" The two animals fell over after hearing that one. They grumbled as they got up and gave him a glare. "_…What?_" The bat and hedgehog gave an exasperated sigh.

"Never mind." Reggie said, jumping into his right fist. Lars said nothing as he jumped into Pi's left fist.

The automaton stomped over to the gong and brought back his right fist. He then slammed it into the gong. It spun over the top and into him, propelling him and his teammates towards the ramp.

"Ok! Separate!" Lars ordered.

He and Reggie detached themselves from Pi. Doing so allowed their bracelets to activate and surround them in the zorbs.

Everybody then entered the ramp in a single file line. Lars entered first, Reggie followed, and Pi took the rear. The trio soon left the ramp and rolled around in the table. They leaned to the right as they traveled. They went past the coconut pawns and saw a small hole that led outside. They overshot it though.

"_Aim for that hole!_" Pi said.

The trio made one more rotation before getting into the hole.

As they traveled down this new path, they noticed that the road split in two directions. They also noticed that they were heading towards another pinball table. This one was more or less identical to the first one they came across. Soon, the group approached a jump. As they sailed through the air, the trio noticed the entrances to the two lanes.

"Take the left one!" Reggie shouted, leaning to the left. Lars and Pi followed suit.

They landed on the left path and rode it to the end. Hitting several boost arrows, they went through a building and went out the other side. The path curved a bit more before straightening out. The team headed towards the top of the pinball table. Lars looked back at the bat.

"I hate to say it, but that really helped us!" He said.

"_Yes. This will certainly cut a few seconds off our time._" Pi agreed. Reggie smirked.

"Heh. No prob guys."

They soon left the lane and landed on the pinball table. Using their momentum from speeding along the lane, they each hit a bumper, which sent them up the top of the table. Using several smaller bumpers that were along the wall, the trio bounced off the table and onto a platform that was occupied by a turtle robot. As soon as their mode of transport disappeared, Lars destroyed it with a combination of his Dark Twister and homing attacks.

With the robot taken care of, the team looked to their left, where the stage continued. In front of them was another pinball table. This one had two sections to it. The left section had a slot machine at the top. A coconut pawn was standing over the entrance. Underneath it were two walls that had bumpers on the sides. Two pairs of flippers (one at the bottom and one flipper was on the top of each wall) were present, as well as several ball-shaped bumpers.

On the right end was the exit to the rest of the stage. Also present was a one-reel slot machine. It was above the exit. Under the exit were a couple of flippers. Finally, ahead of the team were two ball-shaped springs that were floating in the air. Ahead of the springs was a die that kept rising and falling. Lars stroked his chin for a few moments before turning to Reggie.

"Alright. Let's get into fly formation and go into that slot machine." The bat gave him a confused look.

"I thought you didn't want to play the slots anymore."

"So they got Rocket Dork on them!" He said with a shrug. "Money's more important than who's on those slots! So let's go already!" Reggie gave him an indifferent shrug and flapped her wings. Lars grabbed onto her feet while Pi grabbed onto his.

The team jumped over to the first spring and bounced off it. Reggie quickly took flight and hit the second spring. Doing so allowed them to bounce onto the die. The bat used Thunder Shoot on the pawn and cleared the way. To Lars' fortune, a red power core appeared. The trio flew towards the slot machine. As they entered and started the machine, Lars grabbed the power core and got his final level-up for the stage. The machine's interior looked just like the first one they entered. The trio's zorbs disappeared.

"Ok. Let's see what we'll get this time." The hedgehog said, walking over to the leftmost button. Like last time, Reggie went to the center and Pi took the rightmost one. "One…"

"_Two…_" Pi continued.

"Three!" Reggie yelled.

All three of them stopped the reels to reveal…

"WHAT!?!" Lars roared as ninety rings were dumped in front of them. "What is _he_ doing there!?"

Displayed on the reels were two Team Blast symbols…and Twister's face!

"I was so close to the jackpot!!!" The leader stomped the ground in fury. "The one time I don't want to see _him _and he shows up! What the hell is that twerp doing on the slots!?!"

"Let me guess," Reggie started, looking up. "Knuckles?"

(Me: ::Holds up my head with my left hand:: Uh-huh…)

"_That would mean that Sam Dullard's face is also on the reels._" Pi hypothesized.

"I'm possibly miles away from them…" Lars started, crying animé tears. "I shouldn't have to see any of them until I'm ready to beat them to a bloody pulp!!!"

"Hey!" Reggie protested. Lars ignored her and grabbed the rings. Their bracelets activated as they were dropped back onto the table.

"_We must get out of this table._" Pi told his teammates.

"Yeah, yeah…" Lars and Reggie replied, sighing.

The group bounced around the table a bit before rolling into the right section. One at a time, they made the left flipper hit them and propel them into the exit. The zorbs disappeared as they neared a platform that contained a spring bar. The trio bounced off the bar as balls. They were sent up to an alcove, where three turtle bots lay in wait. Two of them were green while the last one was gold.

"Ha! Take this!" The hedgehog yelled, using his Dark Twister on the gold robot. As it was tossed up, the other two robots charged up their cannons. "Pi! Take Rocket Dork's sister and deal with those two!"

"_Affirmative._" Pi said, grabbing Reggie.

"What the—?" She yelped as she was forced into the robot's right fist. Grumbling, she started spinning around.

While Lars used his homing attack on the gold robot he tossed up, Pi jumped and launched Reggie at the left turtle. The bat was engulfed in fire as she crashed into it. With that one taken care of, the blue robot set his sights on the other turtle. He retracted his hands and opened fire, destroying it instantly. Once business was taken care of, the robot and hedgehog looked around themselves. Ahead was a locked door. On either side of it was a switch. Unlike the one they found earlier, these switches were high up.

"Great… There's no way we can reach it." Lars muttered. He smirked evilly. "Unless…" He turned to Reggie. The bat was stumbling around from Pi's attack. She shook her head and glared at the robot.

"Pi, if you EVER do that again, I'll take you apart piece by piece!" She shouted, stomping the ground. "I don't care how many weapons you have! I'll do it! Mark my words!" Pi looked unnerved by her threat. She then felt eyes on her. Nervously, she turned towards Lars. She stepped back at the smirk on his face. Whatever he was thinking _couldn't_ have been good.

"Wh-what are you looking at me for!?" The leader only kept up his smirk. It was then that she noticed the switches. She groaned and looked back at Lars, who was nodding. She glowered at him. "I hate you. You know that, right?" The hedgehog only grinned in response.

"Yep. So get moving!"

"Stupid idiot lame-o…" Reggie cursed to herself as she flew up to the left switch. She grabbed on and pushed it in with a grunt. She then pushed in the right switch. Doing so opened the door.

The room was just a small hall that had a glass floor at the end. Right in front of the trio was a hint ring. Floating over the glass was a new kind of robot. It was mainly black and blue. It was shaped like a jellyfish. It had two claws. It also had one eye in the middle of its body.

"_Unknown opponent is blocking the way._" Pi droned.

"Duh! I can see that!" Lars shouted at him.

"Maybe that hint ring will help us." Reggie said, walking forward. She held her hand out and a piece of paper appeared in her hand. She then proceeded to take a look at the hint, which was a comic.

In the first panel was a stick figure drawing of the bat. She had a happy, carefree expression on her face. In the second panel, the robot they were looking at floated towards her. In the last panel, the robot was directly over her. Reggie was trapped in a ring of energy. She was floating and there were Xs in her eyes.

The real Reggie ripped up the comic and looked up with an icy glare.

"Is this your idea of a joke!?!"

(Me: _What?!_ It's a simple warning!)

"I meant that last panel! It's bad enough I get harassed by them!" She pointed at Lars and Pi. "But I gotta get dissed by you too!?!"

(Me: Hmph! You're not exactly my favorite character, ya know. I could always do worse to you, so you better watch yourself.)

Reggie gasped and covered her mouth. She then turned to her teammates with a forced smile.

"Well, c'mon! We gotta get rid of that robot and find Mr. Stimpleton, right?" Lars gave her a weirded out look.

"Uhh…right…" He turned to Pi. "Take the lead and deal with that thing." He pointed at the robot. Pi nodded.

"_Understood._" He said, charging towards the robot. Lars turned to Reggie.

"By the way, what did that comic say?"

"Comic?" The bat blinked. "Oh, _that_ comic! Well, it was a warning about that robot. If we get caught by its tractor beam, we'll—"

"_Danger!_" Pi called out. Lars and Reggie turned towards him. He was trapped by a ring of energy that was created by the other robot. The hedgehog turned to the bat with a glare. She gulped.

"—be immobilized until it's destroyed." She chuckled nervously. Lars sighed tiredly and rubbed his temple.

"Whatever." He said before skating towards the robot. He jumped and delivered a massive kick, destroying it and freeing Pi.

"_Thank you for the assistance._"

"Yeah, yeah." The other male said, waving a dismissive hand. "Let's go already!"

Reggie rejoined the duo as Pi took the lead. He took both of the furries into his hands and busted through the glass floor, allowing them to fall towards a new area.

After taking care of a few coconut pawns and some more of those jellyfish-like robots, the trio switched to fly formation and went up to a platform that was above the area. They came across a checkpoint. Since Reggie was still the leader, she got her final level-up.

"It took long enough!" She exclaimed. Lars rolled his eyes as they got out of formation.

"Man, you complain too much! Of all the bats in Ocean Shores, I get stuck with _you_!"

"_I_ complain too much!?" She roared, turning to him. "What about you?! You won't stop going on about Little Scottie!"

"That's different and you know it! My mom will go ballistic if I don't show up with that little brat!"

"Brat!? He's your cousin!"

"So?!"

And yet again, another argument started up between them. Pi shook his fists at them.

"_QUIET!!!_" He bellowed, ending the fight. The hedgehog and bat turned away from each other with their arms crossed.

"Hmph!" They both grunted.

If Pi had his human eyes again, he'd roll them. Instead, he pointed ahead at a row of rings that was floating from their current position over a chasm to what looked like part of a half pipe. Near the top of it was a platform.

"_We must get out of here._" The robot said.

"Whatever!" Lars yelled, walking up to the beginning of the golden path. "Get ready for the light speed dash." Reggie kept her arms crossed as she walked behind him. Pi followed and stood behind her.

Using the magnetic attachments made by Sam, the hedgehog sped along the rings. The bat and robot were carried along by his slipstream. The path twisted a bit, but Lars was able to take it. He glided along the trail perfectly before reaching the other side. The trio hit a boost pad and was sent up the wall. When they were near the top, they jumped off and twirled in the air for a few seconds before landing on the platform, which had a turtle robot on it. A gong was also present. Pi quickly took the lead and fell the reptilian wannabe. With the robot out of the way, the team looked ahead.

"Woah!" Reggie gasped.

"Double woah!" Lars added.

"_Wow._" Pi said. The two animals gave him a weirded out look. "_…What?_"

"Nothing." They both said, shaking their heads. The team again looked at what shocked them (or at least Lars and Reggie).

Before them was another pinball table. The difference from the others that they encountered so far was that it had two floors. The bottom floor was the bigger of the two, of course. It featured two slot machines and many flippers near the bottom while the top was littered with bumpers near the exits (this one had two on the right and left sides). The top floor was smaller and only had one slot machine. Surrounding it were a few ball-shaped springs. The top of it had a hole while the bottom part of it had three; one in the middle between two flippers and the others on the right and left sides under them. Access to the top board was granted via two ramps, one on each side of the bottom table. Lars was the first to get over his shock. He gave a smirk and clenched his fist.

"Let's get moving, Pi! I'm gonna win the jackpot this time!"

"Yeah right." Reggie muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Nobody asked you!" The hedgehog shouted, turning to her. The bat glared at him.

"_Preparing to enter multi-story pinball table._" Pi announced, preventing another round of insults. The others turned to him and jumped into his hands.

The robot then punched the gong, sending them towards the table. The robot continued to hold his teammates as they sailed towards the lower slot machine on the bottom table. Doing so allowed all three of them to enter the machine without being put into their zorbs. The reels started spinning.

"Alright Pi!" Lars commended.

"Yeah. I hate to say it, but that was a pretty smart move." Reggie added, nodding.

"_Gratitude received and noted._" Pi thanked, bowing. The other two sweatdropped.

"Right… Let's just hit the buttons…" Lars said weirdly.

The trio moved over to the reels. Like the last two times, they pressed the buttons at the same time. The first two reels stopped on Sam, but the last one stopped on Otto. A loud buzzer was heard before the team was dumped into the table.

"No fair!" The hedgehog exclaimed as they were placed in their zorbs. "That stupid dork stopped me from winning more cash! And he's not even here!!!"

"Oh give it a rest!" Reggie shouted as they rolled around.

Due to some bumpers, the team got separated. The bat concentrated on getting out and leaned forward, or at least what she thought was forward. She wound up using a flipper to get into the higher slot machine. Its reels started spinning as she was released form her zorb. Pi soon followed her into the machine.

"Alright, let's get some rings!" Reggie said to him. The robot nodded in response and moved to the left and center buttons. They both pressed them. The two corresponding reels stopped on Dr. Coconutman's face. The bat gulped while Pi shook a fist at the pictures.

"Oh crap… If he shows up one more time, will lose fifty rings!" She said fearfully.

"_Actually, we'll lose one hundred because two of us are inside._" Her partner corrected. Reggie glared at him.

"Oh yeah! That makes me feel _much_ better!" She yelled sarcastically. She flicked a thumb at the last button. "Go push it and don't screw up!"

If he had eyebrows, the robot would glare at her. Instead, he settled for giving her an intense stare before doing what she said. He pushed the final button, causing the third reel to slow down. It slowly went through the different panels. Otto, Twister, Sam, ring, seven… Reggie took in a hushed breath when the Team Blast symbol passed by. Her eyes widened when the Coconutman panel appeared. She breathed a sigh of relief when it passed.

"Oh man, that was close." She said, wiping sweat off her head. The reel looked like it was about to land on a safe panel.

-------------------

Meanwhile, Lars was still rolling around the table.

"Man, I wonder what's that lame-o's problem, anyway." He said to himself. "She can't shut up for five seconds without screaming her head off!"

-------------------

"Achoo!!!" Reggie sneezed, causing the reel to land on Dr. Coconutman!!! She fell over when she noticed the results.

"_Analysis failed…_" Pi droned as they were let out of the machine.

"Duh! I know that!" The bat roared.

"Hey! I lost some of my rings!" Lars protested, passing them.

"_That's because the female caused us to get three Coconutman symbols._" Pi explained as he rolled towards the bumpers as the top of the table.

"Pfft! Figures."

"Hey! It wasn't _my _fault!" Reggie denied as she followed Pi towards the bumpers. "Something made me sneeze!"

They both hit coconut pawns that were stationed around the area. Before leaving the area and the table, they hit a switch…

"Always having to find excuses, huh?" Lars said, staying on the table.

"Shut the hell up!"

"Oooooohhhh! Feisty! Tchahahahahahaha!!!!"

"Lars! When this whole thing is over and done with, they won't even be able to identify the body! You hear me!?!"

"Yeah, yeah." The hedgehog continued with his teasing. "Just remember, for now we're teammates, so deal with it!" Reggie gave an irritated grunt in response.

With the matter settled, the leader continued trying to win big money. He soon hit an arrow, which sent him up the left ramp into the second floor of the table. He was sent towards the flippers. He leaned to the left and landed on the left flipper. Utilizing the controls equipped within his zorb, he launched himself towards the right side of the table. He hit an arrow and was sent up towards the top. He narrowly missed going into the hole. He sighed with relief as he went inside the center of the board. There were springs and coconut pawns present. After hitting a couple of the robots and bouncing around a bit, he finally entered the slot machine.

"Ok. Big money, big money! Come to papa!" He shouted as he pressed all of the buttons, one after the other.

To his dismay, Twister, a Team Blast symbol, and Otto appeared, resulting in him getting nothing.

"Damn it!" He cursed as he was let out into the board. "There's no way I'm giving up!"

And so, he got back into the machine. The result that time was the same as last time. The difference was that a ring, Sam, and Dr. Coconutman appeared. He was let out of the machine. That's how it went for a good twenty minutes. Lars would go into the machine, get nothing or lose rings, and narrowly avoid going down to the lower board just to get back and repeat the process all over again.

"Ugh! This cheap piece of junk!" He groaned after leaving the machine empty handed for the hundredth time. "It's impossible to win that jackpot, let alone anything! You'd have to be able to stop time to beat that thing!"

A few seconds passed before his eyes widened. If he was able to use his hands, he'd slap himself hard.

"Duh! I can just use Chaos Control!"

Grinning evilly, he navigated the board and returned to the slot machine. The reels started spinning as he entered. He reached behind him and pulled out the purple Chaos Emerald he found at Dr. Coconutman's base. He then turned his attention to the reels.

"Ok… Just gotta wait for the right moment."

He held the emerald tightly, getting ready to use his attack. He closed his eyes, waiting for the perfect moment, when one or more Team Blast symbol would appear. About five minutes passed when he finally opened his eyes, tightening his grip on the Chaos Emerald.

"Chaos Control!"

A brilliant flash came from the jewel. When the flash disappeared, the reels had stopped. To Lars' great fortune, two of them had the Team Blast symbol displayed. Chuckling mischievously, he pushed their corresponding buttons and snapped his fingers, unfreezing time. Both of the reels he pushed buttons for were stopped on the triad of circles. Now only one more remained before the hedgehog could claim his jackpot.

Clutching the emerald, he waited until he could see any part of the Team Blast symbol. It took him a few tries before he got it to show up. Congratulating himself for his plan, he punched the button and unfroze time. The reel stopped on the final Team Blast symbol, causing sirens and bells to go off. Confetti also flew around him.

"Yes!!! JACKPOT!!!" He cheered when two hundred rings were dumped in front of him.

Content with his acquisition, he left the pinball table and rejoined his fellow teammates. They were at a platform that had a checkpoint nearby. Beyond that was a die-shaped platform.

"Ya took long enough!" The bat complained. Lars only brushed her off. Not even her constant nagging could ruin his good mood. He may have cheated, but he got what he wanted.

"Let's go! I'm ready to go on a shopping spree!" He gave a hearty laugh as he walked forward. He allowed Pi to activate the checkpoint and get his second level-up.

The trio switched to fly formation and went up to the lift. They rode it to its highest point and grabbed a hook that overhead. They were lifted up into a room that was patrolled by several coconut pawns. In the middle of the room was a staircase.

"_Multiple enemies detected! Deciding on course of action!_" Pi announced. The other robots turned on them.

"Man, I've had enough of these stupid robots!" Reggie yelled, turning to Lars. "Let's use our Team Blast and wipe 'em out!" The hedgehog smirked at her.

"That's the smartest thing you've said all night." He said, taking out his Chaos Emerald. "Team Blast: Chaos Blaze!" The bat and robot got behind him as he tossed the emerald up.

"Chaos Control!" He roared as he grabbed it.

Time was frozen as Pi retracted his hands. He started charging energy as Reggie lifted him up by his head. The robot let loose a massive beam of purple energy and spun around, destroying all the robots in the room. When the dust cleared, not a single particle of the metal menaces was left. In the middle of the room was an orange power core. Pi grabbed it and got his final level-up.

"Hmmmm… I wonder where that staircase leads…" Reggie muttered, holding her chin.

"Only one way to find out!" Lars shouted, skating up the corridor. His teammates followed.

When they reached the top, a grand view was awaiting them. Across a _very_ wide expanse was a whole new pinball table. It was gold and had three pinball machines. The middle one and the one on the right were the traditional three-reel machine, but the one on the left was a one-reel machine. All over the table were the letters, "VIP."

"Woah… The VIP table." The leader said in awe.

"That must be where the high rollers go to risk it all." Reggie added.

"_Scan indicates that prizes are doubled on that table._" Pi explained. The two animals grinned at him and then at each other.

"If we win the jackpot on that table while all three of us are in that machine, we'll be rich!" Lars exclaimed.

"Yes! I won't need Twister's emerald if we get lucky!" Reggie agreed. "I can buy an even bigger jewel than the Master Emerald!"

"Let's go already!" The hedgehog yelled greedily.

"_There's just one problem._" Pi started. "_How do we get there?_"

Lars and Reggie fell over.

"Crap! He's right! How _do_ we get over there!?!" The former cried, holding his head.

"Chill! There has to be a way to get there." The younger one said, looking around. She grinned when she noticed a switch located near the ceiling. "Bingo."

She flew up and pushed it in. Doing so caused a row of rings to appear. It stretched all the way to a platform that was just in front of the table. Lars got of his melancholy position when he noticed the path of gold.

"Alright! Come to Daddy, you precious jackpot!" He yelled, using his light speed dash. He pulled the others over the gap to the platform, which contained a cannon. Wasting no time, they all jumped into it and were blasted onto the table. Their zorbs appeared, allowing them to roll around on the very shiny board.

"_Concentrate on entering the middle or left machine at all costs._" Pi said to his teammates.

"Right!" The others replied.

The trio fought long and hard against the forces of gravity. A few times, they almost fell off the board. After several close calls and winning some rings from the single-reel machine, they finally entered the middle machine and started the reels.

"Finally! The moment of truth!" Lars yelled, laughing evilly.

"Hang on. We still gotta get three Team Blast symbols, and you know they're gonna be hard to get." Reggie reminded. This only caused Lars to snicker.

"Not to worry! _I_ figured out the secret to beating these machines." He said, puffing out his chest.

"Oh really?" She said skeptically. "And just _what_ is your secret?" The hedgehog smirked as he took out his emerald.

"Watch and learn." He said, tossing it up. "Chaos Control!"

He caught it and time froze around the trio. They turned towards the reels to see that all three Team Blast symbols were displayed.

"Voila!" He said, gesturing towards the reels. "All we gotta do is press the buttons and we'll have all those beautiful rings." Reggie gave him a reproachful look.

"How did I know you were gonna find something illegal to do with that thing?"

"Uhhh… Where have you been?" He started. "I kinda hinted at it since we found it at Stimpledork's base!" The bat slapped her head.

"Whatever! You suck, ok!? Let's just get the stupid rings and finish this stage! I think I saw the goal ring on the way to this table."

"Good. This has taken long enough anyway."

The team walked up to each of the buttons and pressed them. Lars then unfroze time, causing the reels to stop on the symbols and give them a mountain of rings. It's amazing that they were even able to fit inside!

"Hey Pi?" Reggie asked.

"_Yes?_"

"How many rings _do_ we get anyway?"

"_Calculating…_" Pi started. "_Because all three of us are inside a slot machine that is on the VIP table, we earn twelve hundred rings._" The bat and hedgehog cheered at the high number.

"Oh yeah! Who's yo daddy now!?" Lars gloated at the machine, causing the others to sweatdrop.

"Lars?" Reggie said.

"Yeah?"

"Don't do that again."

"Gotcha."

The team grabbed the many rings (how they were able to carry them is beyond me), left the machine, and allowed themselves to drop out of the table. They entered a glass tube that was glowing with a fluorescent orange light. They landed on a normal pinball table. At the bottom, the group noticed a lane that seemed to lead away from the table.

"Hey! I think that if we ride that lane, we'll reach the goal ring." The bat said.

"_End of stage in sight!_" The robot agreed.

"Finally! I could use a little break." The hedgehog sighed.

The trio relaxed and allowed themselves to fall down the drain. They rode the lane around the tower supporting the pinball table. They soon got out of it and landed on a small platform. On it were several metallic palm trees that had neon leaves in their branches. Atop a small staircase was the goal ring, shimmering brighter than a million normal rings. The team moved to grab the ring when some coconut pawns ambushed them!

"Ugh! I don't have time for this!" Lars yelled.

"_I forgot to mention this, but our Team Blast meter was recharged when we got those rings earlier._" Pi mentioned. The others glared at him coldly. "_…What?_"

"Ok! I'm sick of this gag already!" Reggie exclaimed. "Let's just end it right now!"

"You got it!" The leader said, tossing the emerald up.

After a quick Chaos Blaze attack, they were able to grab the goal ring with no trouble.

"At last! We could take a breather." The bat sighed, slumping on the ground.

"Hey! We don't have time! We gotta deal with the next part of the city!" Lars scolded. Reggie glared at him.

"_You're_ the one who wanted to relax! Pick one already!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I'm in the mood for more money! So let's go!" He ordered, delivering his trademark laugh. Reggie sweatdropped as she and Pi followed him out of the area.

To be continued…

-------------------

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part One

The scene opened in the office, where Izzy, Iggy, and I were sitting behind the desk.

"Ouch… This chapter was _lengthy_." I whistled as I clicked around. "Will Lars, Reggie, and Pi survive the next stage? Tune in next week!"

"Hmph! Now there's no way anybody's gonna review _this_ chapter." Izzy scoffed, crossing his arms. "They'll be way too tired after reading this one!"

"Hey, ya never know." I shrugged.

"Yeah! Ya never know!" Iggy repeated. His brother growled before turning to me.

"So what the hell are ya doing?" He sneered.

"Well, I figured that since we're probably not gonna leave this dimension any time soon, we might as well try to figure out a permanent place for us to live." I replied, turning the monitor towards my two fan characters. "That was when I got this idea."

"So what is it?" Both brothers asked.

"It's a fan village." I answered. Both hedgehogs gave me a curious look.

"'Fan village?'" They repeated.

"Yep." I nodded. "It's like this. I've always thought that every fandom has a place where the fans can live and coincide with each other. Depending on the popularity of the fandom, the fan village can either be as small as a couple of houses where everybody knows each other to a huge city where you have to strive to be known. In the case of the Rocket Power dimension's fan village, it's a small town where most people know each other.

"There are all the comforts of any normal city. Supermarkets, movie theatres, malls, etc." I then proceeded to point out the various buildings. "The movie theatres are where all the authors of the fandom showcase their fics. The museum is where the great artists put their fan art on display for all to see. The university is where everybody goes to exchange theories and brush up on writing skills and anything else they feel they might need help with. The playhouse is where role playing takes place. It's always a little hectic there because new people always come and get into the act. There are also houses and apartments for each fan to live in with any fan characters he or she may have created."

"But what's with the mountain?" Iggy asked.

"The mountain separates the village from Ocean Shores. It prevents the RP cast from entering the village and it prevents rabid fan girls, or boys, from going into Ocean Shores."

"Does this fandom even _have_ rabid fans?" Izzy asked, giving me a weirded out look.

"Ya never know." I said with a shrug. "Anyway, you're only allowed on the other side of the mountain if you're going to write a fic. After all, you need the cast in order to do filming. Finally, on top of the mountain itself is a temple dedicated to those who have broken records in the fandom. From the best site to the most knowledgeable, those who have strived to be the best are honored here. And at the very end of the temple, under a statue of the stars of the show, are three thrones. Only the greatest authors may sit here.

"The first two thrones are for the authors that have accumulated the most chapters and words in a fic. And the third throne, which is placed higher than the other two, is reserved for the author that has acquired the most reviews in a fic. Only someone that is popular enough to reach this hallowed position can be considered the best of the best."

"Hmph. In other words, you'll never get to sit on _that_ throne." Izzy remarked, snickering. "Let alone the other two."

"Hey! Daddy can make it!" Iggy defended, glaring at his older brother.

"Yeah right, squirt." The taller hedgehog sneered, crossing his arms. "The boss could _never_ come close enough to ANY of those thrones. Not in a million years!"

"Yeah he could!" The younger furry shouted, flailing his arms. "He's gonna make it to the top!" He turned to me. "Why Dad!?"

"Heh, it's possible." I said with a shrug. "It would certainly be cool to get to sit on that last throne though."

"Pfft! Dream on! Nobody's gonna give ya enough reviews to hit the top!" Izzy yelled.

"Oh! Speaking of reviews, don't you have to answer those two, Dad?" Iggy asked.

"Oh yeah… I almost forgot…" I nodded, reaching into my pocket. I pulled out two pieces of paper and turned to the camera. "To Warior, I love it when someone, other than Izzy, tells me that! It's very flattering!" I grinned before looking at the other review. "And to Mythica, yeah. Go ahead and e-mail me a list of those fics. I'm kinda curious how Sonic slash fics work."

Izzy gagged in response to that while Iggy pumped one of his fists.

"Anyway, I wouldn't mind if you put a list in the review space. It'd make me happy to see a long review. Makes up for the small amount I get per week. Although, it might be better to just e-mail me the links to the fics. After all, there's always that possibility that someone will come along and get this fic deleted." I looked over the review again and gave the camera a thumbs-up. "That's cool that ya beat Tales of Symphonia! Congrats!" I read the review one more time before blinking. "That's a good question. _Do_ I have insurance for rabid hedgehogs?"

Izzy sniggered while Iggy blushed. I opened a drawer in my desk and took out a massive stack of papers. I then looked through the first page.

"Let's see… Hmmmm… Ah here we go! It seems that I _do_ have insurance for rabid hedgehogs after all." I read through it some more. "Hey, it seems that I also have insurance for wild elephant attacks." I blinked. "But elephants aren't indigenous to California. Talk about a useless—"

::CRASH!::

All three of us looked at each other and ran out the door. We ran towards the studio just in time to see an elephant trample through the doors and stomp through the hall, destroying many of the paintings and statues. Amazingly, the portrait of Izzy and Keoni making out was left intact. We sweatdropped before turning to the camera.

"Uhhhh… Yeah…" I said with an irritated look on my face. "Next time I'll keep my mouth shut."

"Anyway…" Izzy started.

"We'll see ya next time, folks!" Iggy cheered, waving.


	12. Zorbing through the Casino, Pt 2

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Two

The scene opened in my office. I was sitting behind my desk, typing something while Iggy was sitting in front of the TV, watching cartoons. Everything was peaceful for a few moments before our stomachs rumbled.

"Ugh! When's Izzy gonna get back with my snack!?" Iggy cried. "I'm hungry!"

"Same here…" I agreed, holding my stomach. "He better not be trying to starve us to death!"

"Come on, Dad. You know he would _never_ do that." The hedgehog offered earnestly.

Meanwhile…

"This was the best idea I've _ever_ had!" Izzy shouted gleefully.

He was sitting on a bench outside the supermarket. Next to him was a plastic bag that was full of chips, cookies, and other assorted treats.

"Now I'll get my vengeance on the boss for taking my powers away. I'll just let 'em squirm for a bit before I come to the rescue." He chuckled evilly.

Back in the studio…

Our stomachs rumbled again as I turned to the camera.

"Ugh… While we're waiting, I guess I better answer the reviews." I clicked around on my computer before logging onto the site and going into the fic's reviews. I grinned. "Looks like I get to answer a whole _three_ reviews!"

"Sweet!" Iggy cheered.

"Let's see… I guess I'll answer Warior's review first." I sweatdropped as I read over it. "Ummm… Thanks for the support. As much as I would love to tear this site a new one, I hope that won't be necessary." I grinned at the camera before looking at the next one.

"To Mythica…" My eyes widened. "It was _you_ who set that elephant loose!?" I cleared my throat. "Well… I hope that cleaning crew comes soon."

"Yeah! I can smell that elephant poop from in here!" Iggy yelled. I sweatdropped again before chuckling nervously.

"Anyway…I'm not sure whether or not zorbing is a word. My word processor says it's not, but what does it know? It's always bugging me about fragments. So to answer your question, probably not, but it is in this fic!

"So, you think that was the longest chapter so far, huh?" I smirked. "Heh, I might surprise you. We'll see anyway." I looked over the review again. "Yeah. Lars is kinda smert in this story."

"What does smert mean?" Iggy asked. I shrugged in response.

"Beats me. It doesn't mean smart, that's for sure!" I gave the review another look. "Heh, that's cool. Take your time with that list. I can wait." I then scrolled down to the last review.

"Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!!! Mike! Ya reviewed!" I squealed. "I thought I was never gonna get another review from you after The Runaway! Hope to see more! Anyway, yeah, you should get Sonic Heroes. It's fun, though it's a pain to get all of the Chaos Emeralds." I raised an eyebrow. "'F1 key?' What the…?" I pressed the corresponding button on my computer, causing a help screen to pop up.

"Ohhhhh…! Uhhh yeah, I guess Izzy _is_ acting as a helper of sorts. I don't know if I'll be making him do that in any future stages. I just wanted to put him in the fic. After all, this _is_ one of my Dimension Hoppers fics. Izzy's gotta be in there for at least one scene. He might show up in future chapters, but he most likely won't be a villain.

"Ugh… The zorbs…" I groaned. "I thought it would've been the best idea to put them in those things instead of letting them roll around in the tables as balls like the Sonic characters. Of course, I didn't count on them tossing their cookies. You wouldn't believe how many takes we had to do!

"Yeah…" I sighed. "Mythica's elephant, Trunkie totally took me by surprise. It's gonna cost me a ton to get those portraits and sculptures replaced!" I held my head and looked at the review again. "Pffft! Of course, we're protected against fire, earthquakes, and termites! Though seagulls and aliens are another story…"

"But what are the odds of _that_ stuff happening?" Iggy asked.

"Hey yeah… We're indoors so we don't have to worry about angry seagulls. And the Rocket Power dimension is completely realistic, so we don't even have to worry about alien abductions!" I gave a hearty laugh.

"Yep! We're completely safe!" The hedgehog cheered. We both laughed cheerfully at our good fortune.

Suddenly…

::CRASH!::

"Huh!?" We turned to the window only to see a flock of seagulls fly in through the shattered remains. They looked completely irate! The flying menaces started pecking at us!

"Ow! Ow! Ow!!!" We screamed as we ran all over the office, holding our heads.

The angry seagulls knocked everything over, practically destroying the room before leaving out the window. Iggy and I blinked and looked around. The whole office was a mess of feathers, bird droppings, and other assorted debris. We coughed up a bunch of feathers before turning to each other.

"Well… At least it can't get any worse." Iggy said with another cough. I nodded in agreement.

Just then, there was a thunderous explosion. The roof had caved in! Both Iggy and I were bathed in a bluish light.

"Oh what now!?!" We both shouted, looking up. We sweatdropped when we found ourselves looking at the bottom of a UFO! We were then levitated off the ground.

"Woah! Wh-what's going on, Daddy!?" The hedgehog shouted. I put on an irritated look as we were lifted higher.

"I think we're getting abducted by aliens."

::SLAM!::

"Alright!" Izzy shouted as he stepped inside. "I got your stupid—WHAT THE!?!" His eyes widened when he noticed Iggy and I slowly flying out of the room.

"Bro! Help us!" Iggy yelped.

"Get us down from here! Quick!" I yelled desperately. Izzy put down the shopping bag and was about to jump to the rescue when he stopped and put on an evil smirk.

"Nah. I think I'll let them take you."

"WHAT!?!" Iggy and I roared.

"You wouldn't dare!" I added.

"Enjoy getting probed!" Izzy said, waving with a wide grin.

"Ummmm… What does probed mean?" Iggy asked me.

"Believe me, you _don't_ wanna know." I replied, turning to Izzy. "Get us down from here now or else!"

"Nope." The hedgehog replied, shaking his head.

"You stupid son of a—" I couldn't finish that curse for Iggy and I disappeared into the alien mothership. Izzy pumped his fist before turning to the camera.

"Ah, that was fun. Anyway, for this part of the chapter, Team Lars is gonna go through the dangerous, but fun level known as 'BINGO Highway.' Why is called that and will they get through it alive? Who knows?! Read on!" He waved at the camera as it whited out.

----------------------------

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Eight

Zorbing through the Casino

Part Two

**Stage Six: BINGO Highway**

**Mission****: Get through the high-speed slides!**

"Alright! It looks like we're starting this stage off right!" Lars cheered as he, Reggie, and Pi barreled down a steep slope in their zorbs.

Unlike in the last area of the city, which had warm colors at every turn, the tables in _this_ part of the city featured many chilly shades of blue and yellow. It was almost reminiscent of winter. The tables and light fixtures gave off an electric blue glow. Parts of the tables were transparent, showing the city below. Surrounding the slope were towers that had giant, spinning poker chips on their roofs. Pictured on them were snowflakes, further adding to the theme. And speaking of cold, the highway was placed very high above the park they were at earlier. Strong winds blew, making the trip even more dangerous for the trio, not to mention freezing!

"Brrr! I'm freezing my wings off!" Reggie yelled. "Whose bright idea was it to come up here!?"

"Can't you just shut up and enjoy the ride!?" Lars shouted.

"_Applying antifreeze…_" Pi said as the others went at it again.

Anyway, the group went along for a few seconds before they passed a couple of bumpers. It was then that they noticed some flappers floating on the table. They were guarding some panels. The trio bowled past them with no problem. They soon got past their opposition and were approaching a ramp that was in front of three lanes that left the table. While Reggie and Pi went around it, Lars rode up the ramp and jumped off. He leaned his body to the left when he saw his teammates take the corresponding lane out of the table. He followed them into it.

The trio was pushed forward by an air ring. They went straight for a few seconds before the path curved to the left. It spiraled downward for a little while before it straightened out and allowed them to land firmly. Their zorbs disappeared as they looked ahead. There was a glass tunnel, but its entrance was sealed off. It seemed to lead into a tower. Guarding it was a yellow flapper that was sporting a searchlight.

"We better avoid that light." Reggie warned.

"Oh please!" Lars scoffed, walking towards the robot. "It's just another one of those stupid floating robots! What's the worst that can happen?"

That was when the flapper spotted him. An alarm was heard from the robot, causing some reinforcements to appear. The two coconut pawns that arrived targeted them and readied their machine guns.

"'_What's the worst that can happen?_'" The bat mocked, crossing her arms. "You know perfectly well those words are death!" The hedgehog growled and shook his fist at her. Reggie only smirked smugly in response. Lars turned to Pi.

"Deal with those things!"

"_Understood._" Pi complied, nodding. "_Initiate power formation._"

The team dodged the bullets and allowed the robot to take the lead. The bat and hedgehog jumped into his fists as he jumped. Using Fire Launcher, he made short work of the coconut pawns. Before the flapper could bring in more robots, they switched to fly formation and brought it down with Thunder Shoot. Pi made the final blow with his fists. After the skirmish, the door to the tunnel opened and Reggie got her first level-up of the stage from a yellow power core. The bat glowed for a bit before glaring at her leader.

"Next time I tell you to watch out for something, watch out!" The hedgehog only turned away with his arms crossed.

"I'm the leader. I don't have to listen to anybody else, especially some _girl_!" He smirked when he turned around and noticed Pi holding her back. "Come on! Let's keep moving!" He skated ahead into the tunnel. Pi let Reggie go and followed Lars. The bat muttered curses as she too skated inside.

Midway through the tunnel, the trio went around two flappers that also had searchlights. They got through undetected and went up to a fan.

"Hmmmmm…" Lars turned to Pi. "Looks like we're gonna have to use your Triangle Dive." The robot nodded.

"_Affirmative._" He took the lead and jumped onto the fan. Lars and Reggie followed suit. They all floated around for a bit before they grabbed onto each other. Instantly, they floated up the tower.

"I don't get it." Reggie started. "If Pi's a robot, how is he able to glide? Isn't he too heavy?" The leader instantly glared at her.

"I thought you woulda learned your lesson from the Squid!" The bat blushed at the mention of her friend before giving Lars a curious look.

"How'd you know about that?"

"He was there at the time." The hedgehog replied, jerking his head in Pi's direction.

"Shoulda known…" Reggie sighed, rolling her eyes. "How else would you have heard about the air skates?"

"_Now leaving tower… Approaching enemies!_" Pi announced as they left the tower. Lars and Reggie looked down.

Below them were four coconut pawns and one jellyfish robot. Half of the pawns had lances while the other half had shields and machine guns.

"_Also approaching item!_"

The furries looked ahead. Floating in front of them was a red balloon.

"Hurry up and grab that balloon, Pi!" Lars ordered.

"_Roger._" Pi replied. He made the trio glide forward and pop the balloon. As soon as it popped, they were each encased in a rainbow-colored barrier.

"Guess we got some shields." Reggie commented.

"Alright! Now let's deal with those bots!" Lars shouted.

"_Letting go…_"

The team got out of the glide and fell towards the robots. Lars spun into a ball and used his homing attack on the jellyfish robot while Pi, with Reggie's unwanted assistance, used Fire Launcher on one of the coconut pawns. The two robots were destroyed as the trio landed and got into fighting poses. Pi ran towards the remaining three robots and punched them out. Reggie grinned when she saw another yellow power core among the debris.

"Alright! It's my lucky day!" She exclaimed as she grabbed it and got her second level-up.

"Duh! Of course we're lucky! Don't tell me you already forgot the huge cash outs we won not even an hour ago!" The bat gave Lars a bored look.

"Using Chaos Control to cheat doesn't exactly qualify as luck, ya know." She said, turning away. She smirked when she heard the hedgehog stomping the ground.

"_Preparing to continue stage._" Pi informed. He was standing in front of a glass floor. Under it was the beginning of a slope.

"Ok! Let's go!" Lars said, walking up to him. Reggie followed.

Pi slammed his fist into the glass, breaking it and allowing them to jump inside. Their zorbs activated as they rolled around.

"Hey, I wonder why they call it 'BINGO Highway…'" Reggie said to herself.

"Who knows!?" Lars shouted. The bat rolled her eyes.

Anyway, the trip was short. The three rolled down the slope to the right and hit some springs. They were released from the zorbs as they landed on a platform surrounded by towers that had spinning poker chips on top of them. Occupying the platform were two steel-plated flappers. They were zapping the floor as they floated around. They were also guarding a case. Floating just beyond that was a ball spring.

"I'll take it from here!" Reggie said.

The others nodded and switched to fly formation. She then used Thunder Shoot, kicking both Lars and Pi at the robots. Her electrified teammates crashed into the flappers, paralyzing them. As the hedgehog and robot came back to her, the flappers fell to the ground.

"_I shall take the lead now._" Pi said.

The trio switched to power formation and charged towards the robots. Before they can recover, Pi launched Lars and Reggie at them, destroying the metal ones. The case lowered, revealing a switch.

"I wonder what it does…" Lars muttered, walking up to it. He flicked the switch. Doing so caused a row of rings to appear high above their heads. It seemed to stretch ahead to another platform. "Oh great! How are we supposed to get up there!?"

"Uhhh… Use the spring, duh!" Reggie yelled. Lars glared at her.

"Do that one more time and I'll—"

"You'll what?" She challenged, crossing her arms. The hedgehog shook her fist at her before turning away. "Hmph. Thought so."

"Shut up and get ready to jump!"

Reggie smirked as she walked up to her partners. They jumped and used their homing attack to hit the spring. As balls, they were launched up towards the trail of rings. As soon as he was level with it, Lars used his light speed dash to skate across them. The other two were carried along to the platform on the other side, where a checkpoint was waiting. A gong was at the end of it.

"It's about time I get my first level-up." Lars grumbled as he activated the checkpoint and glowed red for a few seconds. He then looked ahead and smirked. "Hey."

"What?" Reggie and Pi asked. Lars turned to the former.

"You wanted to know why they call it 'BINGO Highway,' right?"

"Yeah…" Reggie replied.

"Well, there's your answer." He pointed ahead.

Across another gap was the entrance to another pinball table. Above it was what looked like a scorecard for BINGO. It consisted of three rows of three. Each spot was numbered one through nine. The numbers were assorted randomly.

Here's how the card looked:

BINGO

974

281

653

"So _that's_ it…" The bat said, nodding.

"Yeah. Looks like we get to play some extreme BINGO." Lars said, snickering as he punched his hand.

"But how do we even get over there?"

"Duh! We'll use that thing over there!" The hedgehog pointed at the gong and turned to Pi. "Let's go!"

"_Understood._" Pi said, taking the lead. Lars and Reggie jumped into his fists as he hovered towards the gong.

When Pi got into position, he reared back a fist and slammed it into the device. It went around and knocked the trio over the gap to the table. As soon as they entered, they separated and got into their zorbs. Almost as soon as they started rolling, they saw a holographic circle with the number one on it. It was in the middle of the path. Lars went through it, causing it to disappear. Inside the corner of the spheres, a miniature screen turned on and displayed their scorecard, which was identical to the one they saw earlier. On it, the slot that had the one on it disappeared.

"So _that's_ how it works…" Reggie said in awe. "Those must be gates."

"Looks like we have another chance to get big bucks!" Lars added. The bat put on a smirk at that.

"Alright! Let's do it! If we can line up the rows, we'll get some more rings!"

"Ha! Imagine if we get _all_ of the slots taken care of!" The hedgehog grinned.

"This'll be fun!"

"_Just a reminder, but—_"

"SHUT UP, PI!!!" The others interrupted.

Anyway, they soon came across a flapper. Lars rammed into it while Pi and Reggie went to the right. The robot hit the second gate on the board and then a panel, allowing the bat to pass and hit the third gate. The hedgehog bounced to the right and followed his teammates. The trio overshot the fourth gate, but was able to pass through the fifth one. They traveled for a little longer before they hit the sixth gate, went over a ramp, and were sent into the air. The area of the road they were flying over had a few turns due to walls that were placed on it.

As they descended, the trio leaned to the right. Doing so allowed them to land in front of a flapper that was guarding two yellow panels. All three of them rammed into the robot, destroying it. They then crashed into the panels, turning them red and making them vanish. They bumped their way out of the obstacle and into the seventh gate.

"If we hit the next one, we'll make two rows!" Reggie said cheerfully.

"Let's do it then!" Lars shouted. They traveled for a few more seconds before hitting some bumpers…and the eighth gate!

"BINGO!" The trio yelled joyfully as a jingle was heard. Over twenty rings were dumped into their zorbs.

"_Team Blast meter fully charged!_" Pi informed.

"Perfect! We'll save it for later!" Lars replied.

Everybody then hit a row of panels. Just ahead, the path split into three. Down the middle path was the last gate, but the area was guarded by a flapper that was shooting electricity at the table.

"_Passing through final gate required for BINGO._" Pi told his team.

"You heard the man—err…bot." Reggie said, chuckling nervously. "Get through that gate!"

"You got it!" Lars yelled. He waited a few more seconds for the flapper to pass before blasting into the middle lane, grabbing the final gate. A jingle was heard as some rings were placed into his zorb. "Alright! BINGO!" The others followed him out of the table.

They rode a ramp that curved to the left. After a few twists and turns, they wound up on a normal pinball table. There wasn't anything interesting on this table. Just some flippers and bumpers. The trio got out of the table fast by going through the exit at the top. Before leaving, Lars destroyed a flapper and got his second level-up from a red power core. They landed in a large room. On the wall in front of them was a giant roulette machine. Floating in the room was a couple of die-shaped platforms that were moving around. A coconut pawn equipped with a lance charged at them.

"Pi?" Lars sighed, snapping his fingers. The bot stood at attention and punched out the pawn. Just then, a gold jellyfish robot approached them. Knowing that the female of the group wouldn't be as obedient, the hedgehog turned to her.

"Take care of it!" He ordered.

"Right!" Reggie replied.

They got into fly formation. The bat kicked Lars at the robot, paralyzing and knocking it down. Pi then let go and destroyed it with a quick punch. He and his leader returned to their positions, allowing Reggie to fly them up to one of the platforms. After taking care of a flapper that had a gun attached to its underside, they hit a spring that propelled them into an alcove.

"Ugh! What's with all these robots!?" Lars complained after Reggie kicked him into another jellyfish bot.

(Me: It's how your stages work. Deal with it!)

"Oy…" Lars slapped his forehead. He was kicked into another flapper, destroying it. An orange power core fell out of it, giving Pi his first level-up. "Alright! _I'm_ taking the lead again!" He let go and skated ahead. The others looked at each other, shrugged, and followed.

Lars led them towards a narrow corridor. There was a large gap in the middle. The only way across seemed to be a die platform that stretched up and down.

"Guess I'll have to lift you guys across." Reggie said, flapping her wings. She flew about a foot off the ground before the hedgehog grabbed her feet and pulled her back to earth.

"Oh no ya don't! There's another way to get across this! Follow me!" He skated off.

"Whatever." The bat rolled her eyes before following.

Before the floor ended, the trio jumped up. Using Triangle Jump, they were able to cross the chasm safely by leaping from wall to wall. When they reached the other side, they noticed a checkpoint. The leader promptly activated it and got his final level-up.

"Took long enough." He grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Man, nothing's ever good enough for you, is it?" Reggie teased. Lars gave her an irritated look before skating towards a spring bar that was next to the wall ahead of them. The others followed and hit it. They were launched up to a hole in the wall, where another slope started.

The group got inside the hole and started rolling down and to the left. The path curved for a bit before everybody wound up between two flippers. Some flappers and item bubbles were waiting. The team busted the robots and got a few rings from the bubbles before allowing themselves to fall back on the path. They rolled down for a few seconds before going to the right and hitting some springs.

As they were propelled into the air, the zorbs disappeared, allowing them to grab onto some hooks. They were pulled up to another platform. Five coconut pawns were guarding another tunnel. Two of them were unarmed while the others had guns. Lars cracked his knuckles as the unarmed ones noticed them and charged.

"I'm gonna enjoy this." He said before jumping.

He used his homing attack and thrust himself at the closer pawn. He destroyed it instantly and bounced up into the air. He attacked the next one and spun while grabbing his legs after rebounding off it. The remaining three coconut pawns opened fire on him. He just simply spun over them before striking the middle one. He performed an Ollie over the other robots' shots before ending them. Lars landed gracefully and bowed before his teammates as the door to the tunnel opened.

"Ha! How's _that_ for showmanship!?" He bragged, crossing his arms. A recording of an audience cheering was heard from Pi while Reggie just rolled her eyes at the act.

"Quit fooling around and let's go!" She shouted.

"Stupid, lousy, little…" Lars cursed to himself as he skated into the tunnel, followed by Reggie. Before entering, Pi grabbed an orange power core, giving himself his second level-up.

They skated/floated to the end of the tunnel, which (like earlier) had a fan. Pi took the lead, allowing him and his partners to use Triangle Dive. The air current lifted them out of the tower they were in and over a rotating platform. Below them were some robots while a red balloon was right in front of them. The robots were guarding a case that contained a switch for the door ahead.

"Stupid pieces of junk!" Lars yelled, looking at the automatons.

"_I'll destroy them all._" Pi added.

"Yeah, yeah. That's nice and all." Reggie said, rolling her eyes. "Now, can we hit that balloon and deal with them?" Lars growled at her before jumping towards the balloon. As soon as he hit it, a rainbow aura surrounded all three of them.

They had become invincible!

"Let's go!" Lars ordered, disappearing animé style. Flashes of light emanated from the two coconut pawns, two jellyfish robots, and one flapper that were stationed. The hedgehog soon reappeared where the others were standing. He was facing away from the robots with his eyes closed.

"Did you do _anything_?" The bat asked.

"Heh, heh, heh…" Lars snickered. He snapped his fingers. The robots on the ground exploded immediately after. The case lowered, revealing the switch. Reggie glowered at him.

"Show off." She said before jumping down, followed by Pi. The leader gaped after her and stomped the ground before following. They hit the switch and continued on into the room, but not before Pi got his final power core.

Inside were two coconut pawns that had lances. Needless to say, they were defeated in nothing flat. Ahead was a glass floor. Outside the window at the end of the room was a BINGO scorecard. Lars and Reggie grinned greedily as their invincibility ended.

"Time for another round." The female said, rubbing her hands.

"Yep. Time for more money." The male agreed before turning to the robot. "Would you do the honors?" Pi said nothing as he walked up to the floor and wound up a fist. He brought it crashing to the floor. It shattered, allowing the trio to plummet towards the beginning of the new road.

As they fell, the bracelets given to them by Izzy activated. They were surrounded by the same, familiar orbs of energy they used to travel in. Their bodies were also restrained. Like in the first table, a mini-scorecard appeared in the corner of the zorbs. The assortment of numbers was different from the first board.

This is what was displayed:

BINGO

865

271

349

They landed and started rolling downwards. Almost instantly, they hit some bumpers and separated. The trio bounced around that first area for a few seconds before they went through a narrow part of the path. They rejoined as they passed some more springs. They soon went to the left at a fork in the road. Seconds later, a flapper guarding three panels came into view. Ahead of it was the first number gate.

While Lars and Pi took care of the robot, Reggie pulled ahead and went through the gate, causing the one spot on their scorecard to disappear. The hedgehog and robot caught up to her as they jumped over a gap in the board. When they landed, the group noticed that beyond another flapper, there was a hole in the middle! On the left and right sides of it were the second and third gates.

"Split up and don't fall!" Lars ordered, going to the left, followed by Reggie. Pi went to the right. The leader and his second in command went through both gates.

"Alright! If we get through the seventh or eighth gates, we'll get a BINGO!" Reggie told her partners as they rejoined again.

"Then let's go for it!"

The board curved sharply to the left as they continued. After passing a wall, the trio encountered another hole. Luckily, _this_ one was protected by a couple of panels. The fourth gate was also in front of it.

"_Pass the gate and get away quickly._" Pi advised.

Lars passed through the gate and bounced off one of the panels. He followed his team, who rolled to the left of the hole. They went over a narrow bridge and went through the fifth gate before going over another gap.

"We gotta get that seventh gate for a double BINGO!" Reggie shouted as they landed.

"We'll almost there!" Lars added.

They hit a couple of panels just before going past the sixth gate.

"_Pass through next gate for a double BINGO._" Pi informed.

"Duh!" Lars yelled as the board curved to the right. Almost immediately after saying that, he hit some bumpers before passing through the seventh gate!

"BINGO!" All of them cheered as rings poured into the leader's zorb. Just ahead of a couple of flappers, the trio noticed the eighth and ninth gates, which were right next to each other.

"Fan out and get me that jackpot!" Reggie ordered crazily.

"_You!?_ Who said _you_ were getting it!?" Lars challenged.

"You want my foot halfway up your butt?!" The bat retorted. "Get through those gates!"

"Pfft! Fine, but _I'm_ keeping those rings!"

"_Approaching resistance!_" Pi yelled, ending the fight.

Doing some quick maneuvers impossible for even the greatest zorb racers to pull off, the team went around the flappers and avoided the bumpers that were nearby. As they approached the final two gates, Lars was in the center, Reggie was to his left, and Pi was to his right. They passed through the gates, causing a flourish of trumpets to play.

"SCORE!!!" Reggie was literally bouncing inside her zorb as rings were awarded to all three of them.

"JACKPOT!!!" Lars roared happily. A recording of an audience going wild was heard from Pi. The scorecards on their screens disappeared and were replaced with the word "BINGO!"

"_Perfect BINGO acquired._" Pi supplied.

Ecstatic, the trio exited the table through a ramp. It went straight for a few seconds before ending. They went in the air for a short time before landing on a ramp that went upwards. They almost hit an air ring, but they stopped short of it. They rolled down the new ramp, which curved to the right. It ended and they landed on another incline that ended with an air ring. This time, they hit it and were sent down the ramp. The lane dipped downward and ended, throwing them onto a pinball table. Lars grinned when he looked at the very top of the table.

"Oh yeah! Time for another jackpot!"

"What are you talking about?" Reggie asked.

"Look up!" The bat looked and groaned.

At the top of the table was a slot machine.

"Don't tell me we're gonna cheat _again_!" She yelled at her leader.

"Ok, I won't." Lars replied, snickering. "Let's go!"

The trio rolled towards a flipper at the bottom of the table. The hedgehog used the controls in his zorb to knock them to the left. They hit an arrow that propelled them into a lane. It brought them up to a pair of flippers that was directly under the slot machine. Grinning madly, the leader used the flippers again to knock them upwards. They crashed into a couple of coconut pawns before entering the machine, causing the reels to start.

"_Chaos Control required to gain six hundred rings._" Pi said as they were let out of their zorbs.

"Uhhhh… I think I'd know that, duh!" Lars retorted, bringing out his Chaos Emerald. Reggie groaned as he used his signature technique.

-------------------------

"Man! I love that move!" Lars cheered as he and the others left the table six hundred rings richer.

"I can't believe I got stuck with you!" Reggie shouted as they landed. They were standing in front of a crevice that had a spinning die platform in the middle. A case containing a switch was right behind them.

"_What?!_" The hedgehog yelled as they went into fly formation and knocked down a couple of flappers that were guarding the case.

"You keep cheating with that damn emerald!" The bat retorted as Pi destroyed the robots, revealing a yellow power core.

"_Hello!_ It's not cheating if you don't get caught!" He went to flick the switch as Reggie grabbed the core and got her final level-up.

"It's stealing!" She roared as they got into fly formation again.

"Pfft! Like I care about that!" Lars argued as they flew over to the platform (which was now stationary) and then to the other side, avoiding a falling weight as well.

"You already got caught stealing those skates AND whomping Raymundo!" Reggie bellowed as they approached some robots. "When we get back to Ocean Shores, Officer Shirley's gonna be all over you!"

"Like she'll catch me!" The leader scoffed. "And another thing—" He stopped and looked around himself.

"…What?" The bat asked curiously. Lars closed his eyes and stood still.

"I sense another Chaos Emerald." He replied.

"It's about time." Reggie sneered. "I didn't even know you can sense where they are. So where is it?" Lars kept perfectly still as he tried to pinpoint the location of the jewel. He soon opened his eyes with a cold glare.

"It's right there!" He answered, pointing ahead. Beyond the robots was a locked door. "The next emerald is right there behind that door!"

"_Must defeat Coconutman's robots first!_" Pi reminded.

"Right!" Lars agreed, pulling out his emerald again. "Team Blast: Chaos Blaze!"

"Hey! How about a little warning?!" Reggie scolded. Lars didn't pay attention as he tossed the emerald up.

Like at Casino Park, the hedgehog froze time with Chaos Control. The bat and robot quickly got behind him. She lifted Pi up as he started charging energy. He soon let loose a massive beam of energy, which wiped out the robots guarding the door. However, it didn't open.

"Now for that emerald…" Lars said, moving forward. Reggie and Pi sweatdropped and looked at each other before running up to him.

"Woah! What was up with _that_?" The former asked. The hedgehog turned to her.

"I told you, I want all seven emeralds and nothing will get in my way." He answered in a cold voice. "Remember that." He continued over to the door. The bat tilted her head in confusion as she watched him. She soon sighed and shook her head.

"He must be determined to beat Otto." She murmured. She shrugged and caught up to the others.

Lars put his hand up to the door and closed his eyes.

"Yep. It's there all right." He smirked. "I can feel it. But how do we open the door!?"

"_Two switches detected nearby!_" Pi told his boss. "_Require two people to activate._"

"Alright then. Take the dork—" Reggie scowled as he pointed at her. "—and get this thing open." Pi saluted before walking over to Reggie. He snatched her wrist and dragged her along.

"Hey! I can walk, ya know!" She protested. Pi stopped and fixed her with a cold, lifeless glare. Reggie gulped as she kept trying to remind herself that he's a robot; he's built to look like that. She was having a hard time though.

The robot continued pulling the girl along with him. He located both switches behind two different glass pillars. They were across from each other.

"_Stay here until I activate the remaining switch._" He ordered as he placed the bat on the left switch. Reggie glared at him as he stomped over to the other switch. He flicked it, causing the door to open. Lars grinned evilly as he stepped inside. Reggie and Pi followed. The female member gasped as her eyes widened.

"Woah! It's a vault!"

The room was littered with thousands upon thousands of rings. The only way out besides the way they came in was a gong that was in front of them. Lars' grin widened when he looked in the middle of the vault.

Locked in a cage was the blue Chaos Emerald!

"Beautiful." He said, staring at the jewel. He then turned to Pi. "Grab it!" The robot nodded and walked over to the cage. He reared back a fist and brought it crashing into the emerald's prison, liberating it. He grasped it in one of his sharp claws and turned to the hedgehog. He handed it to Lars, whose eyes gleamed in the glow created by the jewel.

"It took long enough, but I finally got a new addition to my collection." He said, pulling out the purple emerald. Both of them reacted to each other, bathing the room in a mixture of amethyst and sapphire. The auras disappeared as he put them away.

"Two down, five to go." He snickered before turning to the others. "Grab what you can carry and let's go!"

The trio got as many rings as they can cram into their pockets/compartments/unknown spaces before moving over to the gong and getting into power formation. Lars and Reggie jumped into Pi's fists. The robot punched the gong, sending them flying. They soared through the air before bouncing off a spring bar. As balls, they went over an area that had several glass panels, as well as three robots.

At the apex of their jump, Pi unrolled and brought his partners into his fists again. He targeted two flappers that were flying nearby and fired. The two fireballs crashed into the robots, destroying them. The trio landed firmly on the ground. Lars skated up to the coconut pawn that was also guarding the glass panes and destroyed it with a single, hard punch.

"Heh." He said, chuckling as he dusted off his hands. He looked at the glass-covered holes and smirked. "Sitting ducks." Reggie and Pi walked up to him and looked. Inside each of the holes was a coconut pawn.

"Hmmm… Guess we don't have to worry about them." The bat said. "We can just walk right by."

"I don't think so." Lars pointed ahead.

Standing by the wall ahead was a case that seemed to contain a spring. Above it were two ball-shaped springs and two giant dice. The cubes were stretching up and down. Reggie slapped her head and glared at the hedgehog.

"You just HAD to use our Team Blast back there, didn't ya!?!" She snapped, shaking her fists dangerously. "It woulda made the job much easier if we waited til _now_ to use it!" Lars shrugged and gave a goofy grin in response.

"Hey! I had to get that Chaos Emerald at all costs!" He defended. Reggie only intensified her scowl.

"There were only three robots! We coulda easily taken them! Can you say, 'overkill!?'"

"Hmph!" Lars grunted indignantly, turning away with his arms crossed. He looked over his shoulders with a smirk. "It's no problem anyway."

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously, never losing her look of anger. The leader turned to her.

"It's simple. Hey Pi!" He turned to his metal subordinate. Pi stood at attention, waiting orders. Lars grinned devilishly. "Time for some target practice!" The robot saluted.

"_Understood._" He said, making his hands sink into his wrists. Reggie's eyes widened as she turned to the other animal.

"You wouldn't!" Lars only grinned toothily in response. The bat quickly took flight in an attempt to get as far away from the blast zone as possible.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Lars shouted, jumping up and grabbing her feet. Reggie yelped as she flapped harder. They got about fifty feet above the area as Pi stomped into the center of the glass panes.

"This'll be good." The hedgehog said, smirking mischievously.

"Oh brother." Reggie said, rolling her eyes.

Not even ten seconds after that, Pi unloaded a massive payload. His legs stood still as he spun his upper body around while launching dozens of missiles from his wrists. The warheads flew high into the air, over Lars and Reggie, and directly into each and every single one of the glass floors. The coconut pawns patrolling didn't even know what hit them. As soon as the missiles exploded, great pillars of fire rose from the holes. The bat and hedgehog scrambled to dodge the flames, cursing at each other all the while.

When the explosions ended, columns of smoke rose from where the coconut pawns once stood. Surely, all of them were destroyed. The two furries descended and touched down by the case, which lowered, revealing the spring. A few moments passed before Pi came out of the gray cloud.

"_Team Blast meter recharged._" He droned.

"Good job!" Lars commended. "Now let's go!" He turned his attention to the spring.

Without thinking twice, he jumped on it and was launched up towards the first ball-shaped spring. He bounced up towards the second one as a ball. He rebounded off that one and landed on the left die platform, which was at its lowest point. It rose up to a new area. Not wanting to get left behind, Reggie and Pi followed. They bounced off the spring, up the two balls, and onto the right die. It lifted them up to where Lars was.

Before them was the entrance to another round of BINGO. Unlike the first two roads, the entrance was a small hole in a wall. The scorecard for the game made up the wall. Guarding the entryway was a flapper that was shooting electricity at the path. The hedgehog turned to the bat.

"Deal with that thing and let's go!" He ordered. Reggie gave him a defiant sneer as she jumped up, carrying Pi. She used Thunder Shoot, kicking the electrified robot at its green counterpart. The flow of electricity ended as the flying robot was destroyed. The bat and blue robot touched down.

"_Goal ring detected nearby!_" Pi announced.

"Finally!" Reggie cheered, stretching her wings. Lars looked down at the news.

"Man… That means this is the last game…" He gave a soft sigh. The girl rolled her eyes at the so-called "dramatics." She knew he was going on about not getting anymore rings after this one.

"Quit your whining and come on!" She yelled jumping into the hole. Her bracelet activated almost immediately.

"Hey! _I'm_ the leader!" Lars protested, following after her. Pi shrugged and entered last. Their zorbs also activated as they went down a long tunnel. Blurs of blue and yellow swam past them as the path twisted, turned, dipped, and rose. As they rolled towards their destination, mini scorecards appeared in the corner of their vehicles.

Here's what this one looked like:

BINGO

154

289

763

The tunnel dipped a few more times before Reggie noticed the exit coming up.

"We're almost there!" She told the others. "Get ready!"

"Alright!" Lars whooped. "There's no way I'm gonna lose this time!"

"News flash: We didn't lose once yet!"

"Shaddap! Don't jinx it!" Reggie rolled her eyes.

"_Approaching final table._" Pi informed.

"No duh!!!" The others yelled.

They left the tunnel and found themselves rolling downhill like the previous two times.The first few seconds of the game went by with no incident, but soon, they ran into three yellow panels guarded by two flappers. As the trio took care of the robots, Lars noticed the obstacle ahead. The road split into two paths before entering a covered area. On the right path was the first gate and the second one occupied the left path.

"When we get past these guys, spilt up!" He ordered.

"_Affirmative._" Pi acknowledged.

After getting through the panels, the group rolled downwards just before entering the tunnel. Reggie went left and through the second gate while Lars and Pi went to right and through the first one. On Reggie's path, the right wall was missing while the left one was nowhere to be found on Lars and Pi's side.

"When we get the seven, we'll get a BINGO!" The hedgehog shouted to his comrades.

"Hey! Watch it!" The bat yelled to the robot, who was teetering on the edge.

"_Leaning to the right…_" Pi said, moving away from the edge.

They soon cleared the obstacle and regrouped. The path split again, causing Lars to get separated from his team. Ahead on either side was a flapper, which was floating in front of a hole. The team leaned away from the robots and passed. The bat and hedgehog sighed with relief as they all rejoined. The road split into three paths as it started curving to the left. Reggie went down the center lane while Lars and Pi took the left and right lanes respectively. The bat quickly went inside a single-reel slot machine.

"Hmmmm… Guess I get to play without having to worry about Lars cheating." She said as she was let out of her zorb. She walked up to the reel, which started spinning prior to entering. She watched it spin for a few seconds before she pressed the button under it. The wheel stopped, revealing Otto's face. Unlike on the traditional slot machines, she got twenty rings. After collecting the gold circles, she was released back onto the table.

While the bat was trying to catch up with her teammates, Lars and Pi struggled against the forces of gravity as they rolled. They dodged some bumpers and springs before going through the third gate.

"C'mon! Keep moving!" Lars told the automaton as they rammed into a couple of coconut pawns.

The path spilt in two again. However, unlike last time, the left and right lanes were on a very sharp curve. Also, the entire midsection of the road was missing. Hugging the wall hard, Lars and Pi took the left lane, allowing them to pass through the fourth gate. Reggie soon rejoined as they reached a jump. The trio went over the large gap and cleared a row of panels that formed a wall. They landed on the road and dodged a hole in the middle before continuing.

"Oh man, that was close!" The bat commented.

"No kidding!" The hedgehog agreed.

"_We must keep moving._" Pi advised.

The road continued to curve sharply to the left as they kept rolling. They bounced around due to some bumpers for a few seconds before hitting a coconut pawn. The path tilted upwards and to the right. The trio stayed close to the right wall as they kept moving. Before reaching another jump, they went through the fifth gate, giving them their first BINGO!

"Yes!" Lars cheered as he received some rings.

"We've gotta be halfway through this thing!" Reggie added as they rolled across a narrow bridge.

"_Approximately fifty-three percent of table completed._" Pi clarified. The bat rolled her eyes.

"Let's go! Just four more gates til we get a perfect BINGO!" Lars said.

The team cleared the bridge and rammed into a flapper that was surrounded by panels. After ridding the highway of the robot, they moved on to find that the table had straightened out again. Also, things seemed a little safer. It looked like the worst was behind them. They found themselves going towards three different metal ramps. They all curved to the right towards another pinball table.

"Try to get in the center!" Reggie told the others.

"Right!" Her teammates replied.

Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, they only managed to enter the left lane. They traveled along it before landing in the top section of the new table, which housed a slot machine. The hedgehog was practically screaming to his subordinates to get inside. Of course, fate was against them and so they continued on with the game.

"Damn it! I can't believe I missed my shot at another jackpot!" Lars was heard crying.

"Oh quit your whining, you big baby!" Reggie shouted.

"WHAT!?!" The hedgehog roared.

"You heard me!" The bat retorted.

"_Oy…_" Pi droned, listening to them go at it yet again. While the two fought, he rolled ahead.

After passing through a narrow section, the robot crashed into a flapper that was situated between two bumpers. Directly ahead was a ramp. Lars and Reggie caught up as he bashed through the enemy. Pi rolled up the ramp and was sent airborne and through the sixth gate. He landed on a new section of the board that was going down to the left. Due to the position of this area, plus the many bumpers, it was hard to get around. Unfortunately for the leader, they missed the seventh gate completely, but they _did_ hit the eighth one, giving them another BINGO.

"Well, _that's_ good to know." Lars murmured as rings were deposited into his vehicle.

"Yeah. Just one more gate and we'll be through with this stage." Reggie added.

"_Approaching final gate._" Pi informed.

"You know, I'm getting sick and tired of you pointing out the obvious!" The bat yelled.

"I hate to say it, but she's right! Quit it, Pi!" The hedgehog agreed.

Anyway, they went around a couple of ball-shaped springs before reaching the last gate.

"BINGO!" Lars cheered.

"Whew! Glad _that's_ over. Now onto the goal ring." Reggie said.

"God, you just wanna rush through everything, don'tcha!?"

"Well why not!?" She countered. "We gotta deal with Mr. Stimpleton, NOT gamble!!!"

"You're the biggest nag on the planet!!!" Lars spat.

Before the bat can think of a stinging insult to that one, all three of them entered the last area of the board, which featured quite a lot of bumpers and springs. Also featured were three lanes leaving the table. They bounced around awhile before going down the middle one. They all hit a spring and were launched upwards. Their zorbs disappeared as they hit one air ring after another. The group of three was sent up at least two hundred feet in the air.

"Holy crap! We're way high!" The leader exclaimed.

"Gee, I didn't notice that one bit…NOT!!!" The bat roared sarcastically.

"_Approaching hidden game of BINGO._" Pi said. The other two quit glaring at each other and turned their attention to the robot.

"See now, if we knew that already, you would've gotten it so bad when we landed." Reggie said, shaking her fist.

"But at least I get one more chance to win!" Lars yelled happily. "Time to play some aerial BINGO!"

"Let's just get this over with…" The flying member of the trio said with a sigh.

They soon passed the final air ring and were thrust up over the usual number gates for BINGO. All around them, the group saw the scorecards for the game. Here's how they were arranged.

BINGO

761

482

593

"Alright! Fan out!" Lars ordered as they started falling. He was in the center, Reggie was to his left, and Pi was to his right.

The hedgehog fell through the first gate, which was in the middle of the playing field. Shortly thereafter, the bat and robot went through the second and third gates, giving them their first BINGO.

"Yes!" Reggie cheered as rings were given to her.

"Heh. Looks like you're enjoying this." Lars said with a smirk. "I thought you hated gambling."

"Oh I do." Reggie replied as Pi went through the fourth gate. "I hate it even more when you gotta cheat to win." She went through the fifth gate.

"Hey, I'll cheat if I feel like it. Nobody's gonna bust me!" He went through the sixth one.

"Why do I feel like I've had this conversation before?" She shrugged.

"_Double BINGO._" Pi announced as he went through the seventh gate. He got forty rings.

Nothing more was said as they concentrated on the game. To Lars' misfortune, all three of them missed the final two gates. They soon landed in an alcove in a pinball table. Right behind them was the goal ring. Its golden aura exuded a radiant energy, warming up the worn out animals.

"Ugh! You dorks messed up my chances for my perfect BINGO!" Lars scolded. Reggie gave him a dubious look.

"WE did?! Excuse me!?"

"That's what I said!" The hedgehog yelled, pulling out the purple Chaos Emerald. "Be right back." He raised it above his head. He would've used Chaos Control had a smirking Reggie not pushed Pi into the goal ring, ending the stage. It disappeared, preventing Lars from using his signature technique.

"What the hell!?" He roared at the bat. "Who told you to push him into that ring!?" Reggie grinned as she crossed her arms.

"Nobody. I just felt like it." She said simply. "Bust!" She fought the urge to laugh as the leader of the group stomped his feet and ranted on and on.

Lars was about to give her some choice words when a gray flash appeared in front of them. When it ended, Izzy was standing before them.

"Ya sure took your sweet time finishing those stages!" He addressed the trio with a sneer. He held his hand out toward them. "Since you're done, you won't be needing those bracelets anymore. So fork 'em over!" Reggie and Pi took off their bracelets and handed them to the older-looking hedgehog without any questions. Grumbling from their previous encounter, Lars reluctantly gave up his too.

"Thank you." The taller furry said, putting them away in his vest. "Guess I'll see you guys around." It was then that he pulled out the gray emerald, causing Lars' eyes to widen. "Chaos—"

"Oh no ya don't!" Lars interrupted, grabbing the other's jewel. Izzy instantly squeezed it, preventing him from taking it. Instantly, a game of Tug 'o War began. "Drop it!"

"Are you crazy!?" Izzy demanded, struggling to pull the emerald away. "I already told ya! This ain't your dimension's emerald!"

"I don't care!" Lars grunted, pulling the rock towards him. "I want it!"

"Let go!" The hedgehog in the vest ordered.

"No way! _You_ let go!" The hedgehog in the helmet retorted.

As the two fought to claim the jewel, Reggie and Pi decided to interject. They both put their arms around the hedgehogs' waists. Reggie was with Izzy while Pi was dealing with Lars.

"Let go of it, Lars!" The former grunted as she pulled back.

"_Yes. Relinquish the emerald. It doesn't belong to us._" The latter agreed, trying to pull Lars away.

"No way!" The hedgehog in the white helmet exclaimed. "I'll only need four more emeralds after this shoobie lets go of it!"

"Back off, kook!" The other hedgehog shouted. "This emerald's on loan! I can't let ya have it!"

The fight continued for a few seconds before Lars thought up of a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, Izzy also had the same idea.

'_If I use Chaos Control…_' The former started.

'_I'll be able to get away with the emerald!_' The latter finished, snickering evilly. They both licked their lips, getting ready to call forth their attack.

"Chaos Control!!!" They both roared, giving each other a defiant smirk. They both blinked when they realized what the other said. "What the—!?"

Instantly, the gray, purple, and blue emeralds glowed brightly. Next thing they knew, all four of them disappeared in a blinding flash. They were still fighting for the coveted jewel when they reappeared on a circular platform surrounded by buildings. It was designed like a roulette table. A red spring bar was nearby. Floating above the area was a balloon of the same color. The landscape was made up of some towers that had casino chips on their roofs, plus a couple of buildings that looked like giant slot machines. A few seconds passed before Pi let go of Lars, causing the others to fall in a heap.

"_Coconutman energy detected nearby._"

"What!?" Reggie said as she and the others stood up. "You sure?" Pi only nodded in response. They all looked around themselves for a few seconds before a gray hovercraft was seen flying towards them. It hovered in front of one of the slot machine buildings.

"It's him!" Lars shouted, getting into a fighting pose. Izzy gasped when he recognized the floating figure. A look of fear washed over him.

"Oh _hell_ naw! I'm outta here!" He said, holding his emerald above his head. "Chaos Control!" And he was gone. It didn't matter to the hedgehog in the helmet though. He had bigger fish to fry.

The one floating was indeed Dr. Coconutman, A.K.A Merv Stimpleton!

"Woah! It really _is_ the Mervinator!" Reggie said in shock. Lars turned to her with a glower.

"You really thought I was _lying_?" He asked in a cold voice. The female crossed her arms.

"It's been known to happen." She answered, nodding. Lars rolled his eyes before a thought came to him.

"Wait, what about back in those slot machines? You had to have seen his face!"

"You never know." Reggie started with a shrug. "Somebody could've put his face on those reels to throw us off." Slapping his head, Lars turned back to the cause of this whole thing.

"Yo!" He yelled, getting the doctor's attention. Merv looked over the side of his craft and chuckled evilly.

"Well, well, it seems that you were somehow able to get out of that base." He said. Lars and Pi clenched their fists.

"_Must destroy Coconutman._" The latter droned, readying his guns.

"You?!" Coconutman started in shock. His surprised look turned into a glare. "How dare you betray your master!?"

"'Master!?' You turned him into a robot!" Reggie shouted compassionately. "You stripped him of his life! His personality! He can never feel anything again! I hope you're proud of yourself!"

Lars gave her a confused look while Pi just stared at her, not having the ability to show his emotions. Although, if he _was _able to, he'd probably be crying at the fact that his teammate stood up for him, despite all the things he did to her and her friends when he was human. Instead of being moved by the speech, however, the doctor raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are _you_ doing out here!?" He demanded. "And with _him_?!" He pointed at the hedgehog, who scowled and crossed his arms. "I thought you hated each other!" The bat sighed.

"Oh we do, alright." She started, crossing her arms. "It's a looooong story, and I don't have time to tell it!"

"Forget about her! You better tell me everything about my past or else!" Lars ordered. "Am I really some kind of genetic freak!? What happened to my memory!?" Dr. Coconutman scoffed and waved a dismissive hand.

"Hmph! Memory? What memory? You have no past to remember!"

"What?!" The hedgehog was taken aback by this.

"Well, I believe our little session is over." Merv started, grinning as he gripped the controls of his transport. "I'll see you hooligans again soon. That is, if you live long enough! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!"

**BOSS BATTLE!**

**ROBOT CARNIVAL**

"Get them!" Dr. Coconutman ordered as he flew a considerable distance away from the arena to watch. In several flashes of light, some flappers appeared. Some were unarmed while others were equipped with guns or bombs. They surrounded the trio.

"Get back here!" Lars roared at Merv.

"Forget about it! We gotta fight these guys!" Reggie yelled at him.

"_Numerous robots detected! Prepare to attack!_" Pi added.The leader clenched his fist and nodded before skating head on towards the robots. He made to use his homing attack against one of the flappers when it ascended out of his range.

"Crap! I can't reach it!" Lars cursed, dodging some bullets. He turned to Reggie. "Let's go!"

"Right!" She complied, flying out of the robots' range of attack.

Weaving around the many bullets flying, she descended and scooped up the others, allowing them to get into fly formation. When the bat was in range, she used Thunder Shoot, kicking both of her teammates at the robots. As the electrified Lars and Pi flew towards their targets, Reggie allowed herself to fall towards the arena, dodging some robots that tried to ram into her. All around her, paralyzed flappers fell onto the ground. When the attack ended, the hedgehog and blue robot landed near the bat.

"Hurry up and get rid of them, Pi!" Lars ordered.

"_Understood!_" Pi replied, charging towards them.

Before the robots could recover, he punched them all out. Explosions occurred all over the arena as all of them were destroyed. When the smoke cleared, the trio was revealed standing. Two yellow power cores were also present. Reggie quickly grabbed them and felt stronger.

"Hey wait!" She said, looking up. "If we just went through that stage, why am I still able to level-up?"

(Me: Because when you touched the goal ring, you lost the strength provided by the power cores.)

"Oh great! That means me and Pi still have to level up!" Lars complained.

"Grrr… You may have gotten through the first wave, but let's see you deal with this!" Dr. Coconutman yelled, pressing a button on his machine's console.

Instantly, a dozen coconut pawns carrying lances fell onto the battlefield and charged towards the trio. With a couple of well-placed Fire Launcher attacks, Pi took care of them just as fast as they appeared. When the dust settled, two red power cores were revealed.

"Alright!" Lars pumped his fists before grabbing them.

"_Team Blast meter charged._" Pi announced.

"Good! We can use it on the next wave!"

"Wait! We better save it just in case some really strong robots pop up." Reggie advised.

"Pffft! Whatever." Lars grunted.

"If you little brats are done whispering to each other, here comes the next batch!" Merv shouted.

In nine flashes of light, six coconut pawns equipped with lances and three flappers, which had guns, appeared.

"Ugh! Give me a break!" The hedgehog yelled as the pawns charged towards them. He skated head on and used his homing attack on half of them.

Thanks to his recent level-ups, they were taken care of in almost nothing flat. Reggie's final power core fell out of one of the robots. She grabbed it and took Pi with her. She flew up to the flappers and let her metal companion do the talking. Pi was released from the bat's grasp as he wound up his fists. As soon as he was within range, he got rid of all of them with some quick punches. He grabbed an orange power core that fell out of one of them.

Meanwhile, the remaining coconut pawns backed Lars into a wall. The hedgehog smirked as they got ready to have some shish-kabob.

"You bunch of metal freaks think you can take me?" He sped past them, causing them all to get tossed out of the arena by his slipstream. "Good. I didn't think so either."

Merv was livid as he banged his craft's console.

"Smash them all!" He bellowed, pressing a button.

Nine flappers that were practically stacked atop one another appeared. The doctor sweatdropped at the sight of the robots' formation. They didn't even have any weapons! The trio turned to him. Lars and Reggie were smirking.

"You're joking, right?" The bat asked. Merv had a nervous look on him.

"He's not joking." The hedgehog said, his grin turning evil.

"What a shame." Reggie said, shaking her head at the doctor. The trio turned towards the robots.

Needless to say, they took care of them without breaking a sweat. After the bat used Thunder Shoot to destroy them, Lars and Pi got another power core each. The leader was fully leveled-up while the robot still had one more to go. Dr. Coconutman slapped his head.

"Ok… Let's try this again." He grumbled as he pressed the same button from earlier.

Electricity was heard crackling as flappers surrounded them. Several were shooting electricity at the ground while some had bombs attached to their undersides. The robots floated all around them and closed in!

"Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!" The trio screamed as they were zapped. They were tossed into one of the walls of the arena, looking charred. Lars was beyond mad as he stood up, shaking his fists.

"Ok! That does it!" He roared as he took out the purple emerald. "Team Blast: Chaos Blaze!"

Time was frozen as Reggie picked up Pi, who was charging energy. Without a second thought, the robot fired a beam of energy, destroying the other automatons.

"Damn robots nearly melted my helmet and burned my hat off!" The hedgehog yelled, taking off his helmet and hat. He shook the latter to get the ashes out before putting it back on. Meanwhile, Pi grabbed the orange power core that appeared and got his final level-up.

"You know, a lot more coulda happened besides your stupid hat getting torched!" Reggie shouted. Lars sneered at her.

"Man, whatever! My hat's my life! I bet you'd be crying if I decided to stomp on your sunglasses." He smirked as she glared at him.

"Nobody touches my sunglasses and lives to tell about it." She growled in the same cold voice the leader used just before getting the blue emerald. Lars crossed his arms defiantly and turned towards Coconutman, whose mouth was agape. Of course, he was frozen too.

"Well, time's frozen for another minute or two. Whaddya wanna do to pass the time?"

"_Perhaps we should examine that balloon before time unfreezes._" Pi spoke up. Reggie shrugged.

"Might as well."

They got into fly formation and hit the spring bar, sending them up in the air. The bat flew towards the balloon and popped it.

"_Team Blast meter recharged._" Pi said as they landed and got out of formation.

"Well, _that_ was lucky." Lars said.

Shortly after, time unfroze. Merv shook his head.

"I don't know how you did that, but I'm gonna destroy all of you!" He yelled, pounding his console. He continued the battle by teleporting in four flappers that had bombs and four coconut pawns that had shields in their hands.

"Oh please!" Reggie scoffed, flying up with Lars and Pi in tow. She took care of the flying robots with her signature attack.

"Alright! My turn now!" Lars said, letting go of the Rocket. Pi let go of him as they fell towards the remaining robots.

When he was within range, the hedgehog used his Dark Twister attack to knock the shields out of the pawns' hands. Pi made the final blow by shooting each of them with his machine guns. The trio congregated in the center of the arena.

"Hmph! Not bad, but let's see you deal with this!" Merv said. As soon as he said that, the trio was surrounded by armor-plated flappers. They were floating a couple of feet above the ground.

"Deal with this, Pi!" Lars commanded.

"_Affirmative. Get out of blast radius._" Pi replied.

"WHAT!?!" Reggie exclaimed.

"Shut up and fly!" The leader shouted. The girl grumbled as she flew above the arena with him hanging on to her feet.

Down below, the blue robot stood in the middle of the battlefield and launched missile after missile at the gray robots. When the smoke cleared from the attack, Lars and Reggie touched down and skated up to him. Without saying a word, Dr. Coconutman called in several jellyfish robots.

"Man! What a bunch of crappy robots!" Lars cursed as he jumped up and used his homing attack on some of them.

"Annoying, aren't they?" Reggie asked as she grabbed Pi and kicked him into more of the robots, destroying them.

"No kidding!" The hedgehog said, taking care of the remaining bots.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The mad doctor laughed.

"Man, what's _he_ laughing about? He's losing!" The bat shouted.

"Wanna bet?!" Coconutman retorted, pressing a button on his machine. Instantly, the trio was surrounded by green turtle bots. A gold one was situated in the middle.

"Damn it! How many more are there!?" Lars yelled as he used his wind attack on the gold turtle.

While the robot was getting thrown into the air, Pi attacked the others. He destroyed them with simple punches, thanks to his increases in strength. When the golden robot landed, the hedgehog fell it with a homing attack. Merv quickly retaliated by sending out some flappers that shoot electricity. Remembering their previous encounter with them, the team jumped out of the way. They dodged their initial attack and took to the sky. Reggie took care of them with just one Thunder Shoot attack.

"Ugh! You bunch of pests! Why won't you stay down!?!" Merv cursed as he called in some reinforcements. Some armor-plated flappers, turtle bots, and coconut pawns appeared.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Reggie said, mouth agape. The robots targeted them and started charging their weapons. The bat and hedgehog's eyes widened.

"PI!!!" They both yelled.

"_Preparing missile attack._" Pi droned as Reggie flew Lars above the arena. The human-turned-robot attacked the other buckets of bolts with his attack.

"Hey! Give up, kook!" Lars shouted at Coconutman.

"Yeah! We can take whatever you dish out!" Reggie agreed as she and Lars landed. Merv only roared with laughter.

"_Attempts to make him surrender unsuccessful._" Pi said.

"Let's see you get through my final attack!" The doctor shouted.

"Finally!" Lars sighed with relief.

For Coconutman's final attack, several coconut pawns rained down onto the field. Unlike the others they encountered so far, these robots were gold. The hedgehog scoffed as he grabbed one of his emeralds.

"Pffft! This is cake!" He said tossing it up. "Chaos Blaze!"

The trio initiated their Team Blast, wiping out the robots. When time unfroze, Merv, devastated at the destruction of his final wave, banged and stomped the interior of his hovercraft. After he got over the loss, he smirked as he pointed at them.

"Don't get so excited, boys!"

"Ahem!" Reggie interrupted.

"And girl…" Merv rolled his eyes. "Those were the easy ones!" With that, he flew out of the area.

"_A group of sentry robots, destroyed._" Pi said.

"DUH!!!" The other two yelled.

"Come on! We gotta follow him!" Reggie said to the leader.

"I know that!" Lars shouted, holding up his emerald. "Chaos Control!"

And they left the area to continue their journey.

-------------------------

Post-chapter Conversation

The scene opened in the demolished office. Izzy was sitting on the sofa, watching TV and eating some potato chips. He gave a yawn.

"Ah… This is the life." He said, stretching his arms. "I hope they _never_ come back. This is so perfect. I don't have to worry about any stupid slash pairings or nothing! I hope this never ends."

Just then, a column of bluish light entered the room. A few seconds passed before Iggy and I appeared. The light disappeared and the sound of an engine's roar was heard. The sound soon ended.

"So much for that…" Izzy muttered.

"Ow! So that's what probing is!" Iggy cried, rubbing his backside. "It hurts!"

"Ugh… No kidding." I agreed, rubbing my butt with a groan. I glowered and gritted my teeth. "When I find Izzy, he's gonna wish he was never created!"

"Believe me, I already wish that."

Iggy and my heads snapped towards the hedgehog in question. We advanced towards him with pure rage flaring in our eyes. My partner gulped as he backed away towards the door.

"N-now come on guys… Y-you know I was only kidding, r-right…?"

"GET 'IM!!!" Iggy shouted.

"YIKES!" Izzy screamed, skating down the hall. Iggy took off after him on his air skates while I ran.

"Izzy, when I get you, I'm gonna have me some fried hedgehog!!!" I roared before turning to the camera. "Anyway, Team Lars got another Chaos Emerald and defeated Coconutman in a battle. But what of the others? And how are those in Ocean Shores holding up? Find out next time!"


	13. Sam’s Worst Nightmare, Pt 1

Pre-chapter Conversation

For once, we open a conversation _not_ in the studio, but deep in the heart of the Rocket Power fan village. The camera focused on what seemed to be one of the many movie theatres in the town. A red carpet stretched from the entrance of the building to the street. On either side of it were velvet ropes, which held back screaming fans and paparazzi. On both sides of the theatre's main entrance, searchlights illuminated the night sky. The song, "Hurray for Hollywood" was heard in the background as the camera focused on a woman.

She looked to be in her mid-twenties. She was wearing a sparkly red gown. Her orange hair was tied in a bun. She was wearing plenty of make-up on her face. Her lips, which were laced with fire engine red lipstick, were pursed as she prepared to speak into the microphone in her right hand.

"Hello, I'm Scarlet Garcia reporting live from the Paragon in the Rocket Power dimension." She started. "It's pandemonium here as everyone awaits the arrival of Prince Izzy, who is kind enough to premiere the latest chapter of his cult classic, Rocket Heroes in this very theatre." She gestured to the rowdy crowd.

"But of course, that's not the _only_ reason why we're here. This chapter will mark the one hundred thousandth word the author has logged in for a story. This means that not only will he have more words written than in any of his fics; he will have written the most words out of _any_ RP fic that has been written! Or at least out of those that have been posted on this site." She added.

"This also means that Prince Izzy will have officially ascended to one of the thrones inside the temple that lies on top of the mountain that overlooks this village. Although, technically, he _has_ already logged in the most words in a RP fic. When asked why he didn't seize the throne for most words in a fic sooner, he said, 'I refuse to take the throne on top of the mountain if I can't go without breaking this record first.'"

Suddenly, a white hummer-limo pulled up to the carpet, causing the crowd to go wild.

"Oh my… That must be the author, Prince Izzy!" Scarlet exclaimed, running over to the limo.

The chauffeur walked around to the back and opened the door. There were many flashes as Izzy, Iggy, and I stepped out. All three of us were dressed in black tuxedoes and dress shoes. I was wearing a purple tie, Izzy was wearing a red one, and Iggy was wearing a blue one. All of the cameras followed us as we walked towards the theatre's entrance, waving to the crowd all the while. Scarlet reached us.

"Prince Izzy, how does it feel to finally reach your goal of one hundred thousand words?" She held her microphone towards me.

"It feels great, Scarlet!" I replied cheerfully. I then looked at the crowd. "Wow! I didn't think so many people would come to see _me_ break a hundred thousand!"

"Well, it's not everyday an author reaches such a milestone." The newswoman said before turning to Izzy. "And Izzy, you were the one that said that your creator would _never_ reach a hundred thousand words. How does it feel to know that you're wrong?"

"No comment." The hedgehog sneered, crossing his arms. Scarlet gave him a curious look.

"But surely you must have an opin—"

"I said no comment!" Izzy roared. The reporter jumped away and turned to Iggy, who was grinning from ear to ear.

"So, Iggy… You weren't around for Prince Izzy's initial announcement of his goal. Now that you know of his accomplishment, do you have any comments?"

"Yeah!" The energetic furry screamed, snatching the mic. "I just wanna say Daddy's the best RP author in the world! He deserves to sit in that temple thingy! He should also get a million reviews for each and every one of his fics!"

I blushed and turned away while both Scarlet and Izzy tried to wrestle the microphone away from Iggy. The little hedgehog wasn't giving it up though. He was trying to say more nice things about me. Soon, a dust cloud appeared where the trio was and a fight broke out. Not taking notice, I turned to the camera.

"Guess I'll give the summary before we head inside. For the first part of this chapter, the rotation starts all over again as Team Rocket takes on the death-defying heights of Rail Canyon! But before that, we're gonna take a look at how everybody's parents/relatives are fairing. Enjoy!" I waved at the camera as the crowd cheered.

(A/N: Reviewer responses will be at the end of the chapter.)

* * *

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Nine

Sam's Worst Nightmare

Part One

It has been three days since Otto and the others left Ocean Shores and tensions were high. Not knowing where their children were, the parents/relatives of the twelve kids have searched the entire town for them. Needless to say, they came up empty handed. They were worried sick. Their hair/quills/fur/whatever were practically falling out! They couldn't sleep! They couldn't eat! They couldn't even—

"GET ON WITH IT!" Said adults screamed.

(Me: (Sweatdrops) Oh right, sorry.)

Anyway, if losing their kids/nephews/niece wasn't bad enough, it has also been three days since the evil Dr. Coconutman sent his declaration of world conquest. Apparently, the letter was received by not only the Rocket, Dullard, and Rodriguez families, but the entire town—no, the _world_! All of the citizens were on edge.

"What if he isn't stopped by the end of the day?"

"What is his ultimate weapon?"

"Will we survive?"

These questions and more were on everybody's mind as they nervously went about their day.

"Any sign of them?" Noelani asked as Ray, Tito, Raoul, and Eddie's and Mackenzie's fathers walked into the Shack. It was nearing sunset. They had just come back from searching the entire town for quite possibly the hundredth time since the kids disappeared.

Mr. Valentine was brown and wore glasses, as well as a cape, like his son. Mr. Benders, like his irate daughter, was red. The hedgehog, cat, echidna, chameleon, and rabbit shook their heads sadly. The females of the group hung their heads low. They were made up of Noelani, Paula, Sandy, Eddie's and Mackenzie's mothers, and Violet Stimpleton.

Like Sam, Paula was a yellow fox. The main difference was that she only had one tail. She was wearing a red dress. Like her son and husband, Mrs. Valentine was a brown chameleon. She was wearing a purple blouse and shorts. Mrs. Benders was also a red rabbit. She was wearing a green blouse and a mini-skirt. Violet was there because she had also lost someone very dear to her: her husband. She thought that if she helped find their children, she'll be reunited with Merv.

"Wait, where are the others?" Paula asked, referring to Pi and Trent's parents.

"They're still out searching." Tito answered.

"Where could my little Mackenzie be?" The girl's mother said, tears coming to her eyes. Her husband immediately walked over and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her.

"Eddie…" The female chameleon started, sobbing. Her husband joined her.

"My poor little Maurice and Lars!" Sandy outdid both of them, turning on the water works full blast.

"Little Scottie and Clio…" Raoul added. He then added as an afterthought, "My brother and sister are so gonna kill me…"

"Keoni-bruddah…" Tito's ears drooped, thinking of his nephew.

"Otto… Reggie…" Ray was perhaps the most devastated of the adults. He bowed his head as he sat at a table. His wife walked over and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Don't worry; I'm sure they'll all come back safe and sound!" Violet, always cheerful, even in the darkest of times, shouted. She walked over to the counter and grabbed a remote. "Now, how about we watch a little TV to calm our nerves?"

Ignoring the weirded out stares she got from the others, she pressed the on button. A newscaster was displayed. The woman on screen was sitting at a desk.

"_In other news this evening, there is only one hour left before the notorious Dr. Coconutman, considered a terrorist by the military, unleashes his weapon on the world._" She started. Violet gave a smirk at the announcement. "_As for **what** this weapon is, we have no leads at this time. All that we can assume is that it must be a weapon capable of mass destruction._ _Military officials have tried to locate the doctor's base, but have not succeeded yet. All that this reporter can say is all is lost._"

It was then that she was handed a piece of paper. She read the sheet for a moment or two before giving a small grin.

"_It seems that there is a ray of hope in this tragic story. I have just been handed a report from our correspondents on the west coast. A small task force of twelve has risen up to the challenge made by Dr. Coconutman. And here's the kicker, folks: They're all kids!_"

The sobbing adults snapped their heads at the screen after hearing that. They murmured amongst themselves in disbelief. She couldn't be talking about who they _thought_ she was talking about! …Could she? The anchorwoman held her right ear, having received a transmission on her ear piece.

"_I have just been told that we have some amateur videos of the twelve heroes._" She then got another paper. She read it before facing off camera. "_Do we have the footage ready?_"

A couple of seconds passed before she turned to the camera. She cleared her throat.

"_This is a video shot at a coastal area in southern California. Now this is a little odd for me to say, but it may be best to avoid blinking._"

The newswoman was replaced by a staticy video. The scene was taking place at Seaside Hill. A brown rat wearing red swimming trunks was displayed. A surfboard was standing next to him. The camera shook a bit.

"_Dude! You're on!_" A female voice yelled.

"_Alright._" The rat said before clearing his throat. "_Hey there, dudes and dudettes! The name's Maxie and that's my girl, Mimi._"

The camera was turned to face another rat that was wearing a pink bow. She waved at it. The camera faced the male again.

"_Today, I gonna show ya some of the raddest surf tricks ever! But first—_"

Just then, three red, yellow, and orange blurs sped past them, generating a great amount of wind. Maxie held on to his surfboard in an attempt to avoid getting blown away. Mimi was heard panicking as she tried to hang on to the camera, which was shaking rapidly. The wind soon died down, allowing the rat to stand firmly and catch his breath.

"_Whew…_" He panted. "_Are you…alright, doll?_"

"_Yeah…_" Mimi's voice was also heard panting. The camera was steadied again.

"_Man… What was that?_" Maxie said, facing the direction the blurs traveled.

Seconds later, the head of a coconut pawn fell into his arms.

"_AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!_" The female screamed as static was shown, ending the scene.

Ray and the others gaped at the scene. Violet, meanwhile, had a nervous expression on her face. The newswoman reappeared on screen.

"_As you can tell by watching that video, whatever caused those blurs was moving at an impossible speed._" She faced off camera again. "_Can we get that picture up again?_"

The adults in the Shack looked on curiously as a picture from the video was brought on screen. It was the part when the blurs appeared.

"_Now, we shall go in for a close up._" The woman's voice was heard.

The blurs in the image got bigger and sharper as the news channel's computers moved the picture closer. About a minute of hushed anticipation passed before limbs were seen. This was followed by what looked like three helmets; one round, one with wings on the sides, and one shaped like a shark. Finally, what could be distinguished as air skates were on the blurry figures' feet.

"Oh my! It's Maurice!" Sandy exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. "I recognize that helmet anywhere!" She turned to her husband and gave him a bone-crushing hug.

"Sammy's safe!" Paula shouted, crying tears of happiness.

"Alright! Otto's ok!" Ray yelled, punching the air.

"But where's Reggie?" Noelani asked. The hedgehog's celebration came to an abrupt halt when he realized she was right. Wasn't the older sibling with them?

On screen, the camera went back to the reporter, who was again handed a report.

"_It seems that we have some footage of three of the other kids._"

The screen changed to a black and white video of Clio, Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese. The quartet was skating/flying through the city that was taken over by Coconutman.

"Mackenzie! She's alright!" The little rabbit's parents cheered, embracing each other. They blinked at the footage. "But where's Chocola?"

Meanwhile, Tito and Noelani breathed a happy sigh.

"Whew! Keoni's safe…" They both said.

"Oh thank goodness Clio is safe!" Sandy cheered, hugging Raoul tighter. The black echidna was starting to turn blue as he sputtered for air.

"_We got this footage from a security camera that was posted at the city that was once under the control of Dr. Coconutman._"

A few seconds passed before the team was shown taking on some of the doctor's robots. They were taken care of in seconds flat. The adults gave the screen a shocked look.

"D-did our little girl do _that_?" Mackenzie's father asked with wide eyes. The angriest rabbit in the world just kicked Clio at a flapper, destroying it.

"Y-yes… I believe so, dear." His wife answered with equal shock.

"Ha, ha!" Tito laughed as Keoni was shown whacking a turtle robot with his fishing rod. "Show him what us Hawaiians are made out of! I knew giving him that fishing rod would help!"

His eyes widened when he felt the cold glare of no less than eight eyes on him. Gulping, he turned around nervously. Sandy, Raoul, and Mackenzie's parents were scowling at him. Their eyes glowed an angry red as they stared him down.

"A-aloha…?" He tried, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Let me get this straight." Sandy started with a growl. "You gave our kids those things?" She and the other three turned their gaze to Ray and Noelani, who nodded. Instantly, the two women stalked towards them.

"N-now ladies! We had a good reason for giving them those shoes!" The hedgehog tried, backing up while holding his hands. He turned to the purple cat and said with clenched teeth, "Back me up, Tito!"

"He's right!" Tito said, standing straight up. "Clio was helping Keoni and Mackenzie find their pets."

"Their _pets_!" Mrs. Benders demanded. "How long does it take to find a chao!" The hedgehog and cats gulped, trying to think of something. Fortunately, they were saved by the TV.

"_We also have footage from one of the energy plants in the city. It seems that these children are traveling in groups of three._"

On screen, Eddie, Trent, and Little Scottie were shown battling one of the gold turtle robots. Like with Team Rodriguez, the image was in black and white. The ninja reached into his cape and rained shurikens on the bot. The turtle blew up immediately after. As they skated/flew out of the camera's range, the parents turned back to Ray. Eddie's parents were now on the warpath. If looks could kill, the hedgehog would be six feet under. Most notably, Sandy was beyond mad. She looked ready to pounce on him and rip him to shreds.

"WHAT IS **LITTLE SCOTTIE** DOING IN THOSE SHOES!" She roared. Luckily for the owner of the restaurant, Noelani took up the defense.

"We didn't even see those three that day! We don't know how they got their shoes!"

"_We just got some footage of what seems to be fights going on between the teams._ _I suppose this means they are not working together, after all._"

Everybody's head snapped towards the screen after hearing that. Teams Rocket and Rodriguez were shown duking it out. The two trios rammed into each other before eventually tossing out everybody but Otto and Clio. Everybody in the Shack was at each other's throats after seeing that one. They only paused momentarily to watch the battle between Teams Lars and Sherlock. Sandy and Raoul, who had Ray and Tito in a choke hold, dropped them as they all stared at the screen in complete and utter shock.

"L-Lars…" Raoul started.

"Fighting _Little Scottie_!" Sandy shrieked.

"With _Reggie_!" Everybody else yelled in surprise.

"What in the world is she doing with _him_!" Ray roared, the memory of his encounter with the younger hedgehog still fresh in his mind.

"And who's that robot?" Mackenzie's mother asked.

"_Wow! We're getting lots of footage featuring those kids!_" The anchorwoman exclaimed as another paper was shoved into her hands. The stage hand, who had reached a little too far, was waving at the camera…at least until the woman pushed him out of the way. She cleared her throat.

"_As I was saying, we just got this report from our correspondents in Las Vegas._" The screen showed clips of Team Lars rolling through Casino Park and BINGO Highway. "_It seems that Dr. Coconutman's robots had taken over one of the casinos and the city's only highway. Thankfully, this group was able to stop them before they stole any money. They even fought the doctor in an almost never-ending gauntlet of robots._"

Everybody gasped when they saw the trio fighting wave after wave of robots on the circular platform. They had gotten a good look at the evil doctor, who was flying around the scene in his hovercraft. There was no mistaking it. The one flying around was none other than Mervin Jeremiah Stimpleton! The parents turned towards Violet, who was trying to sneak out of the Shack.

"Freeze!" They ordered. The pink-haired woman stopped and nervously turned to them. They all fixed her with the coldest glare yet.

"Did you _know_ he was Coconutman?" Ray asked, breaking the silence. Violet gulped.

"I don't know anything!" She yelled, getting ready to run.

"Stop her!" Noelani ordered as she left the Shack.

"Way ahead of you, cuz!" Tito shouted, running after her. When he was within range, he leaped into the air and body slammed Violet! The overactive woman was immobilized. The others gasped and ran towards the two.

"Tito…" Paula started. "I think you may have gone a tad too far." The cat sweatdropped as he stood up.

"Y-yeah… I guess you're right." He said, blushing as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Look!" Mrs. Valentine said, pointing at where Violet was. They all turned and gasped.

Instead of the wife of the most evil person in Ocean Shores, there lied a shattered coconut pawn. It was crackling with electricity. Smoke was emitting from it.

"What does this mean, Raymundo?" Noelani asked frightfully, clinging to her husband.

"I…I don't know…" Ray replied just as confused.

"Hmph. I always thought she was too cheerful and energetic to be human." Raoul said, nodding while crossing his arms. Everybody else glared at him. "_What!_" Sandy put on a look of embarrassment as she slapped him upside the head.

"_What!_" The newswoman was heard yelling. Everybody ran back inside and looked at the TV. The anchor was holding her right ear as she faced the camera. "_Ladies and gentlemen, I just got word that a Channel Six camera crew is at the Grand Canyon, where one of the four teams is situated. We take you live._"

There was static for a few moments before the scene changed. Everybody in the Shack saw the Grand Canyon. The sky was bathed in purples, oranges, and blues. Stars were starting to appear. The group was just barely able to make out the trio standing on a ridge. Ray, Noelani, Tito, Paula, Raoul, and Sandy grinned when they recognized the figures as Otto, Twister, and Sam.

"There they are!" The hedgehog exclaimed.

"Yeah, but why are they standing around, bruddah?" The bigger cat asked.

"I wish the cameraman would move closer so I could see my darling Maurice." Sandy added, holding her hands together. The others sighed exasperatedly at the display of maternal affection.

Meanwhile…

**Stage Seven: Rail Canyon**

**Mission****: Get to the terminal station!**

"Woah!" Otto exclaimed happily.

"Woah!" Twister exclaimed with a huge grin.

"Woah!" Sam exclaimed fearfully. He was covering his eyes.

Before them was the Grand Canyon in all its splendor. The main difference between the landmark now and when they had their near-death experience was that almost every square inch was coated with rail after rail. They were lined up side to side in groups of three, sometimes more. The majority of the rails looped upside down. Others spiraled downwards. And some even ended with wild jumps. Needless to say, Otto and Twister were in Heaven. Sam, on the other hand…

"Man! ZGZ's got _nothing_ on this place!" The leader shouted.

"This is the greatest skate park in the world!" Twister added. He then held his head. "Oh, if only I had my camera! This woulda been the best footage ever!"

"Oh yeah, baby! I can't wait to tear this place apart!"

"Uh-uh! Noooooo way!" The fox exclaimed, turning away from the sight with his arms crossed. "There is _no_ way I'm grinding _that_!" The hedgehog and echidna faced him.

"Come on, Squid! It's just a little grinding…" Otto tempted. Sam gave him a dubious look.

"A _little_! The rail at the pier, _that's_ a little grinding! And I can't even grind _that_ without falling off! How do you expect me to get through _that_!" He pointed at the course. The others shrugged.

"You can always fly the whole way." Twister offered.

"I can't fly the _whole_ time! I'll be too tired to lift you guys if, and when, we need to get into fly formation!"

They all stood still, trying to think of a solution.

"Well, what if you spun your tails while grinding?" Otto broke the silence. "That way, if you _do_ fall, you can always fly back on the rail and you won't get tired."

Sam crossed his arms and looked down, considering the options. He huffed when he thought of his answer. He was going to regret this. He could feel it already.

"Alright, alright! I'll grind the stupid thing." He said to the leader, who smirked. "But I won't like it! Count on it!"

"Whatever. As long as we don't have to leave ya behind, I don't care." Otto said, moving towards the edge of the cliff. Directly below were three rails, which were sloping downwards.

"C'mon! Let's get this show on the road!" Twister shouted. The hedgehog nodded.

"Right!" And he jumped off the cliff.

"Geronimo!" The echidna yelled, jumping after him. Sam sighed reluctantly as he moved to the cliff.

"If I have to, I have to." He gave another sigh before jumping.

One by one, they fell onto the trio of rails. Otto landed on the center one, Twister landed on the right one, and Sam landed on the left one. Their air skates locked in place as they grinded down the steep slope. The metal plates the midpoint of the skates' undersides slid down the rail perfectly, making the trip smooth. Sparks flashed from their feet as they traveled. They held their arms behind and in front of them in order to balance themselves. Taking the leader's advice, Sam started spinning his tails, allowing him to go slightly faster than the others.

"Hey Squid!" Otto said, facing the fox.

"Yeah?" Sam asked.

"How long has it been since we got that letter, anyway?"

The kitsune put on a thinking look.

"I think this is the third day." He answered. A few seconds passed before his eyes widened. "The third day? We only have until nightfall before Merv unleashes his weapon!"

"Nightfall? That's only a few minutes away!" Twister shouted.

"Looks like we're gonna have to race the clock, guys!" Otto yelled. "We're cutting it close, but if we go as fast as possible, we'll make it! Let's go!"

The trio crouched as they continued grinding down the slope. They were able to fight the wind resistance caused by the air currents in the canyon. Unfortunately, their speed only increased a little. They were still going incredibly slow.

"Crap! There gotta be a faster way to grind!" The hedgehog cursed.

Just then, he passed through a hint ring. A piece of paper was placed into his hand. Without giving it a second thought, he leaned over and handed it to Sam. He almost fell off as he handed the paper to the fox. Otto was able to regain his balance as he concentrated on grinding.

"Let's see…" Sam murmured, switching his view between the rails and the paper. On it, like so many hints before it, was a comic.

The first panel had stick figure drawings of the trio grinding on lines. They had frowns on their faces, presumably because they were moving so slow. On the second panel, the group hopped off the "rails" slightly. The third panel had them spinning a bit in the air. The final panel had some lines behind the grinning trio, a clear indication that they were moving faster. The kitsune had to read the comic a few times before he understood what it meant. He held the paper in one hand as he concentrated on imitating the comic.

"Here goes nothing." He gulped, closing his eyes. To the amazement of Otto and Twister, he jumped lightly off the rail. He then performed a quick spin before landing on the rail again. His speed increased slightly.

"Woah! What was that, Squid!" Twister yelled after him. Sam looked back.

"According to the hint, if we dance along the rails, we'll be able to accelerate!" He replied.

"Dance?" Otto blinked before crossing his arms. "No way! It's bad enough I got _one_ ballerina after me! You expect me to _dance_ like one the whole time!"

"Either do it or get left behind!" The fox yelled, dancing some more. The hedgehog and echidna sweatdropped before turning to each other.

"Come on, Ottoman, it can't be that bad." Twister said before imitating Sam. He soon caught up to the fox. Otto slapped his forehead at the sight of his friends who were quickly getting away from him.

"Alright! I'll do the stupid dance!" He groaned. "Thank God nobody's here to see this." He started dancing as well.

He soon caught up to Sam and Twister as the rails straightened out. On the canyon walls were several objects that looked like boilers. What looked like mining equipment was also stuck on the canyon walls. The trio ignored them though as they watched the rails. They danced for a little longer before reaching some devices. They were on each rail. They consisted of six small wheels. They were lined up three on either side.

"What do you think those do?" Twister asked.

"We're about to find out!" Otto yelled.

Because the device on the middle rail was closest, the hedgehog was the first one to hit it. He was squeezed through it and found himself moving faster. Sam and Twister also went through the devices and were pushed ahead.

"Guess they give us a speed boost!" Sam explained, going back to dancing.

"Guess so!" Otto said with a nod. He and Twister danced to catch up.

They soon hit another trio of boosters and were sent forward. The trio couched as the rails dipped. They danced as the rails curved to the left. The rails went downwards. Twister got some rings that were floating on his rail just before hitting a booster. The others soon sped up. The canyon opened up as they kept up their dance.

"It's a good thing Raymundo gave us these air skates!" Sam yelled over the noise caused by their grinding. "We wouldn't be able to survive this with normal blades!"

"Man! I never thought grinding could be such hard work!" Twister commented, wiping his sweaty head.

"No kidding!" Otto added, fanning himself.

"I wonder… Why would Mr. Stimpleton just put in all these rails?" Sam asked.

"Maybe he's trying to test us or something."

"But why?"

"I don't know, Squid!" Otto yelled. "I'm just guessing!"

"Sorry, sorry! Sheesh!" Sam sighed. The rails curved to the left again.

"He's gotta be using them for _something_ though." Twister spoke up.

"Yeah right! Other than providing us with some excellent transport, what else could he be using these rails for!" Otto asked as they hit some more boosters. Seeing that the rails kept going straight, the group stopped dancing and turned to each other.

"I don't know…" The echidna shrugged. "Maybe he's using them for trains or something."

"Oh please!" Otto slapped his head. "Twist, you use _tracks_ for trains, not rails!"

"He's got a point though, Otto." The fox said. The hedgehog gave him a weirded out look. He rolled his eyes. "Ok, maybe the train thing _is_ a little farfetched, but Merv must be using these rails as transport for _something_."

"Whatever! All that matters is that we get to him before he brings out this so-called 'ultimate' weapon!" The leader said.

"Hey you guys! I see something up ahead!" Twister called. The others turned from their conversation to look. Below, after the rails dipped a bit, was a platform.

"Alright! Let's get over there!"

The trio went back to dancing. The rails dipped to the right. They soon got within range of the platform. They gave a weirded out glance when they noticed railroad crossing signals before reaching it. Otto and Sam turned to Twister, who only shrugged in response. The hedgehog and fox sweatdropped as they kept going. The rails soon ended with three springs. The team hit them, propelling them up a wall.

When they landed on the ledge, they saw the first checkpoint. Just beyond it were some rails that were made out of a bluish light. They curved to the right, connecting to a new platform. Floating in front of the rails' starting point were two power formation signals. The trio looked at the next platform and noticed some coconut pawns standing alongside barrels that had Dr. Coconutman's insignia on them. They were guarding a small tower. Otto turned to his best bro.

"You better grab the first level-up so we could take care of those guys." He pointed at the robots. Twister nodded.

"Right!" He grabbed the checkpoint, giving him his first level-up. "Ok! I'll take the lead."

"Do you think it's safe to get on those?" Sam asked timidly. He pointed at the rails ahead. Otto and Twister sighed exasperatedly.

"Squid, it's perfectly safe!" The former said.

"Yeah! If you're so scared, why don't you just fly across?" The latter added. "It's not that far." Sam scowled as he took in an irritated breath.

"Fine! I will! Let's go!" He said, spinning his tails. While the hedgehog and echidna grinded the light rails with no trouble, the kitsune flew after them.

As soon as they reached the next platform, the coconut pawns attacked them. At his command, Sam and Otto jumped into Twister's fists and spun into balls. One by one, the echidna used Fire Dunk to take care of the robots. When he didn't have either of his teammates in his hands, he destroyed the robots with his spiked fists. With the robots out of the way, the trio went around to the back of the tower, where they saw a hook leading up.

"Hang on, you guys!" Twister said, jumping up.

As the hook pulled him up, Otto and Sam grabbed on. They were lifted to the top of the tower, which featured a small slope with rails on it. On the middle rail was a blue disc.

"Whaddya think that thing is?" Otto asked Sam.

"Looks like some kind of switch…" The fox replied, adjusting his glasses.

"Let's go then." The others gasped when they saw Twister grind the center rail.

"Twister! What are ya doing!" They exclaimed.

"Chill you guys! It's safe! Watch!"

And he hit the switch, causing it to turn red. The light rails below turned red as they repositioned themselves. Now they turned away from the platform the trio was on and connected to another platform that was to the right. Otto and Sam looked over the edge to see Twister land on the leftmost rail and grind it to the next platform, where a coconut pawn lied in wait.

"Woah!" The echidna exclaimed when the robot activated and charged towards him with its lance drawn. Twister sidestepped and landed a hard punch, knocking it out. He grinned and waved at his partners. "Come on!" The others shook their heads at his antics and followed. They got on the light rails and grinded them to the platform.

"Man, Twist! What were you thinking!" Sam scolded when they arrived.

"Yeah dude!" Otto added. Twister rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"It was kinda a spur of the moment thing?" He tried. The others shook their hands pitifully.

"Whatever! Let's get moving!" Otto ordered.

Ahead of the trio were two rails that lead to a wall. The rails started out as normal ones, but soon became blue light ones before changing back to normal ones. Two switches like the one they found earlier were at the end. The hedgehog took the right rail while the others took the left one. They grinded over to the switches and hit them, causing the light rails to turn red and curve to the left. They then hit some boosters, propelling them through the light rails. The red rails were soon replaced by normal ones as the trio hit a couple of boosters. They crouched as they were sent down a slope and past some more railroad crossing signals.

"Ugh… I think I'm gonna be sick…" Sam groaned as the rails dipped and rose. His face was turning green.

"Not again!" Otto and Twister groaned, slapping their heads.

The rails went up and down for a few more seconds before sloping down towards some springs. Beyond them, the rails fell due to small explosions.

"The rail!" The fox gasped.

"Man! They'll try anything to get rid of us, huh!" Twister commented.

The trio hit the springs and was sent towards the beginning of a new set of rails. Since there were three, everybody claimed their own rail. Like at the beginning of the stage, Otto was in the center, Sam was on the left, and Twister was on the right. They continued on for a few seconds before reaching three rainbow hoops. They all jumped through them and were sent forwards through the air.

"Alright!" Otto exclaimed as he turned while holding his legs up. Twister pulled off a similar stunt while Sam just settled for an Ollie. They straightened out and landed on a new set of rails.

"OH NO!" Sam screamed. Ahead, beyond a pair of boosters, the rails looped! "It's my worst nightmare! I wanna get off!"

"Too bad, Sammy! Just hang on!"

They hit the first set of boosters and traveled along for a few seconds before hitting the next one. Sam closed his eyes shut as they went up the loop. He felt his stomach go into his throat as he went upside down. The trio got through it, only to hit another trio of boosters, sending them to another loop. They all went upside down for a couple of seconds before the loops ended abruptly. Twister landed on a new rail and was sent away from the area while Otto and a screaming Sam were sent one rail to the right. They were forced to go through the loop two more times before joining the echidna on the new rail.

"That's it! I'm gonna puke!" Sam yelled, pulling out his air sickness bag. He immediately buried his face in it. Otto and Twister sighed exasperatedly at the sound of the fox's retching.

Anyway, the rail the trio was on spiraled to the left before straightening and going down. Otto and Sam caught up to Twister as they neared a new platform. This one seemed to have a fence preventing all from entering. Luckily for our heroes, there was a spring bar right in front of it. One by one, the group hit the bar, sending them up over the fence as balls. At the apex of their jump, they saw a balloon floating.

"Twist! Use Triangle Dive to reach that balloon!" Otto ordered.

"Got it, dude!" Twister replied.

They quickly unrolled and grabbed each other's hands. All three of them glided towards the balloon and popped it. The result was a shield surrounding each of them.

"Alright!" Sam exclaimed as they let go of each other.

They all fell towards the ground and landed. Ahead of them were a checkpoint and a pole. Guarding them were two coconut pawns, each with lances.

"Ok Twist, beat up those things while I grab the checkpoint." The hedgehog said, skating towards the circle. He grabbed it and instantly felt stronger.

Following his leader's instructions, Twister ran up to the robots and uppercut both of them. When they exploded, a red power core emerged, much to Otto's fortune.

"Level-up!" He shouted as he powered up again. "Talk about luck!" He chuckled. The others rolled their eyes as they walked up to the pole.

"Hmmm… Looks like we'll have to go up it." Sam commented. Otto rolled his eyes at him.

"Duh! Hang on, you guys!" He said as he jumped up. "Rocket Twister!"

He spun around the pole, generating a red swirl of wind. He grabbed onto the pole and started spinning up it. Not wanting to miss their ride, Sam and Twister skated up to him and grabbed onto his legs. The trio went round and round as they went up. When they reached the top, they let go and landed on a platform. In front of them was an unarmed coconut pawn. It was guarding a normal switch.

Otto took care of it with a single homing attack. Sam flicked the switch, causing a nearby door to open. As they went through a small hall, Sam's watch started beeping. The fox looked at it and grinned when he saw the Team Blast symbol.

"Guys! Our Team Blast meter's charged!" He told his teammates.

"Alright!" Twister cheered, punching the air.

"Cool! We'll save it for now. C'mon!" Otto said, skating out of the hall. The others followed him out.

The trio reached the start of another set of rails. They jumped on them and hit the nearby boosters, sending them out. They crouched, increasing their speed a bit. Soon, they reached two other sets of rails. At that exact moment, two trains sped along said rails.

"What the—!" The hedgehog shouted in surprise.

"Trains?" The fox added. They both turned to Twister in disbelief. The echidna crossed his arms and smirked defiantly at them.

"See? What'd I tell you?" He yelled over the noise. The others looked at each other.

"Well, he had to get one right sooner or later." Sam offered.

"Who'd-a think he'd get it right _now_?" Otto asked. He then looked at the trains and grimaced. "They look pretty weird though."

The trains were a mixture of red and black. On their front and rear cars, they had faces, which had a cold stare on them. On each car was a pair of horns, making them look very devilish.

"Th-they look s-scary…" Sam said, shivering slightly.

"Never mind them, Squid! Let's keep moving!" Otto yelled, starting to dance. The others followed his movements.

"Hey! Is it me or do the right tracks connect to these rails?" Twister asked. Otto and Sam looked at each other before looking ahead.

It seemed that the tracks _did_ connect to the rails they were on! The fox and hedgehog's eyes widened as they gulped.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Sam asked. The others nodded grimly. They looked ahead again.

The train that was riding the right set of the rails was coming towards them!

"JUMP FOR YOUR LIVES!" The leader screamed.

Everybody jumped from rail to rail on the left. Otto and Sam got to the rails on the left side almost immediately. Twister narrowly made it as the train sped alongside him.

"Woah!" He exclaimed when it passed him. He sighed with relief. "That was close."

"I don't believe it! He actually got _two_ right!" Sam shouted as they got back to dancing.

"Why did you have to get it right _now_!" Otto ranted, turning to his best friend. "I mean, you coulda gotten something right when we were in a safe place, but _nnnnnoooo_! You had to be right when we were about to get run over by a demonic train!"

"Whaddya want me to say?" Twister retorted, shaking his fists. "You know I can't control my brain!"

"Just forget about it!" The fox spoke up. "After all, if you didn't say anything, Twist, we would've been goners." He gave the orange one a thumbs-up.

"Yeah…" Otto agreed, looking down. "Thanks Twist." The echidna rubbed the back of his head while chuckling.

"Oh it was nothing, you guys!"

Nothing more was said as they went back to dancing down the rails.

The rails soon dipped downwards. They hit a few boosters as the rails curved to the right. To Sam's grave misfortune, the path flipped upside down quite a few times. The trio crouched as they hit a booster, propelling them through the difficult section. They soon grinded over light rails before coming to a station. They jumped off the rails and landed safely.

"My legs are so tired…" Sam groaned, rubbing his sore limbs.

"No time for breaks, Squid!" Otto said. "We don't have that much time left, remember?"

"Ugh… Right." Sam said, standing straight up and following the leader and Twister.

The trio circled the tower that was at the station for a few seconds before finding a way in. There was a pole present. It was much bigger than the one they used earlier. Using Rocket Twister, they were able to go up with no problem. When they reached the top, they let go and landed on a platform was occupied by a flapper. It was shooting electricity at the floor, but that didn't matter to the team at the moment. Because of the sheer length of the pole, they stumbled around dizzily.

"So dizzy…" Sam groaned. His eyes were just swirls. His teammates were in the same position as they tried to get out of their dazed state. A few seconds passed before they shook their heads and stared ahead.

"Hey Sammy, I think we're gonna need ya for this." Twister said, pointing at the robot. The fox nodded.

"Alright, here goes!"

He spun his tails and took flight, allowing him and his friends to get into fly formation. He brought his right foot back and kicked Otto. The hedgehog was surrounded by electricity as he rolled into a ball. He crashed into the flapper, knocking it down. While the leader was coming back to Sam, Twister let go and punched out the robot. The trio discovered that it was guarding a trail of rings that led to a sloping platform that had rails embedded in it.

"Ok Otto, use your light speed dash!" Sam said. The hedgehog turned to him and nodded.

"Right! Let's go, dudes!"

The others got behind him as he used his magnetic attachments to speed along the path. The kitsune and echidna were pulled along his slipstream.

When Otto grabbed the last ring, he landed on the center rail of the platform while Sam and Twister got on the left and right rails respectively. They all crouched, letting their speed carry them up the rails. They soon landed on a new platform. On it were the next checkpoint and the beginning of another set of rails.

"Squid, you better grab that checkpoint." Otto said to the fox in question. Sam nodded and grabbed it, giving him his first level-up.

They then skated over to the rails. They fanned out before hitting some boost pads, carrying them onto the rails. They were on the same rails as last time. While Sam and Twister's rails were complete, Otto's was sloping up a bit. It ended almost immediately. The hedgehog smirked as reached the end of his rail. He jumped and performed a 360° spin. He sailed through the air for a couple of seconds before landing on a new rail and started dancing like the others. The rails sloped down as they kept moving.

"Man, I wonder how much further we have to go." Twister spoke up.

They hit a couple of boosters, propelling them forward.

"I don't have a clue, bro." Otto said, shrugging. "But we gotta be close to the Mervinator's base! I can feel it!"

The rails started to tilt upwards and to the right.

"Woah!" Sam yelped, trying to regain his balance. He sighed with relief when he got his footing back. "It's too bad I didn't take my GPS with me. It really would've come in handy."

"Let me get this straight." The leader started, turning to him. "You brought all these weird weapons with us and you didn't think to bring a GPS!"

"_What!_ You think I knew we'd be going all over the country when we started this thing?" The fox retorted.

They stopped dancing as the rails looped upside down.

"No, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared!" Otto answered when they were right side up again.

They hit some boosters.

"Oh look who's talking!"

"QUIET!" Twister yelled, ending the fight. "Let's just concentrate on beating Merv!"

The left and right rails went up an incline before dipping again. Otto's, on the other hand, ended abruptly with a trio of rainbow hoops. They were lined up, one behind the other. Grinning, the hedgehog went through the hoops and spun through the air before landing on a new rail. The group danced as the rails curved to the right and then left before straightening out again. They then went though what seemed to be a small checkout station. Coconut pawns were standing at it. They ignored the robots as the rails sloped upwards.

The trio hit a couple of boosters, driving them up the steep slope and over the top. As they went down a steep slope, they noticed some small robots speeding alongside them on rails that were going in the same direction. They were shaped like rhinos and had guns on their roofs.

"Man, what's up with these things?" Twister asked as he and his friends continued to dance.

"They must be armored trains." Sam commented as the rails they were on straightened out. The ones the robots were traveling along lined up perfectly with their rails.

"Heh. Looks like they wanna race." Otto said, smirking. "Let's do it, guys!"

The robots shot cannonballs at them as they danced along the rails. The trio was able to avoid them with no problem as they hit booster after booster, allowing them to blaze ahead. The bots quickly caught up to them. The rails curved to the left as the race continued. Otto laughed heartily as he and the others kept moving. Soon, however, the hedgehog's eyes widened when he noticed that the rails were starting to separate. All the rails, including the ones Sam and Twister were on, went into a complex jumble of dips and inclines.

"Guys! Jump on my rail, quick!" He ordered urgently.

The fox and echidna yelped frightfully when they noticed why their leader was so jumpy. Without any question, they hopped on Otto's rail and followed, being careful not to crash into him. The rail dipped and raised and few times before finally ending with a drop.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Sam screamed at the top of his lungs as he fell, waving his arms wildly. Otto and Twister, meanwhile, were performing as many tricks as possible.

They soon landed on a new rail that was deep in the canyon. As they started grinding again, they hit a couple of boosters. Sam was gasping for air when he realized he was safe, at least for the moment. He quickly grabbed his sports inhaler and released his asthma medicine into his body.

"Whew…" He sighed.

"Hey, you alright, Squid?" Twister asked, looking back. Sam nodded.

"Yeah. Just a little overwhelmed."

"Ya know," Otto started, looking back at his teammates. "I'm beginning to think Mr. Stimpleton is a major hypocrite!" The others gave him a weirded out look.

"Whaddya mean, Ottoman?" Twister asked.

"The guy wants to destroy every skate park in the world, yet he's got something like this! I mean, can't he make up his mind or what!" The others nodded in agreement.

"You got a point." Sam said.

"If ya ask me, that guy's got a screw loose or something!" Twister added.

"Come on! Let's move!" Otto said.

The rails from earlier rejoined the one they were on. Happy at the addition of space, Sam and Twister jumped on the left and right rails. Unfortunately, the rails a few feet ahead collapsed!

"Aw crap!" Sam exclaimed.

"Not again!" Twister groaned.

"Just jump, you guys!" Otto yelled at them.

The trio jumped onto a new section of rails. They jumped again when it ended. They grinded for a few extra seconds before jumping again. They landed on some light rails. They grinded for a bit before the rails looped. Like a few minutes earlier, each of the rails ended suddenly. Unlike last time, Sam was the first to land on a new rail while Otto and Twister still had to go through the same loop two more times. They caught up to the fox as the rail curved to the left. They soon reached a trio of blue light rails.

"Ok you guys! Get on your own rail!" Otto ordered. The others jumped on their usual rails as they were sent up a wall.

Just before hitting some boosters, they hit a switch, causing the light rails to turn red and reposition themselves. Now they pointed down towards a new set of rails. The trio grinded down the wall and fell a few feet before landing on the new rails.

"Woah!" Twister shouted as they each hit a booster and was sent forward. Sam screamed in extreme fright as the rails looped around a few times.

"Ugh… My head's spinning…" He groaned when they passed the last loop. Otto and Twister turned away from him as he vomited.

"Dude! That's gotta be the most you've ever barfed!" The echidna yelled in awe.

"Ugh! Sick bro!" Otto said with disgust.

"Blech… I've felt better…" Sam said, wiping his mouth with one hand while holding his stomach with the other.

The rails they were on spiraled down and to the right before going into a tunnel. As they got closer, the wall at the end opened, revealing the horrible face of a train!

"Look out!" The fox shouted.

"Jump!" Twister yelled. They all jumped to the left. They landed on a platform that was occupied by a flapper. Before it can shoot at them, the trio went into fly formation and brought it down with Thunder Shoot. The echidna made the final blow.

"Whew…" Otto sighed, wiping his head. "Good job, you guys."

"Thanks…Ottoman…" Twister panted.

"When will this nightmarish roller coaster ride end!" Sam suddenly screamed, kneeling as he held his head. The others sweatdropped and rolled their eyes.

'_What a drama queen._' They both thought.

"Come on, Squid. We gotta keep moving." Otto said.

The fox cried for about a minute or two before finally getting up. The trio walked over to a switch that was nearby. Next to it was a fence. On the other side were two more switches and a case containing a spring. Twister flicked the switch closest to them, but nothing happened.

"What do you think, Otto?" He said to the leader, who stroked his chin.

"Hmmmm… Maybe all of us have to activate the switches in order to lower that case." Sam spoke up.

"Makes sense to me." Otto said. "Ok. Twister, you stay here and wait while Sam flies us over that fence. We'll come back for you."

"Alright, bro." The echidna nodded. The hedgehog turned to the fox.

"Let's go, Sammy!"

"Right!" Sam replied, flying up. Otto hung on to his hands as they ascended. "Wow! It feels good to not have to lift both of you at the same time for a change!"

"Whatever, Squid. Just get over that fence."

Sam flew over the fence and landed on the other side. Otto walked over to the switch by Twister and flicked it. The kitsune went over to the last switch and activated it. The case around the spring lowered. Sam, cheering over being able to fly without carrying anybody, went back and got Twister. When all three of them were together again, they hit the spring and were sent up to a platform. To their left was a bridge that had a checkpoint in the middle of it.

"Twist, you get the next level-up." Otto told his best bro.

"Got it!" The echidna replied, skating towards it. He activated the checkpoint and got his second power up for the stage.

Otto and Sam caught up as Twister went ahead and attacked three coconut pawns that were standing guard on the other side. After the skirmish ended, Sam got his second level-up from a yellow power core. In front of them was a giant fan.

"Time to use the Triangle Dive, Twist." Sam said.

"Alright, Squid." Twister replied, giving him a thumbs-up. "Hang on!"

They all jumped over the fan and linked hands. The trio was blown upwards towards some rails. When they were level with them, they landed and started grinding again. The rails seemed to lead to a tunnel, but the group noticed something wrong.

The new set of rails was incomplete! It ended with some blue light rails that had boosters facing their direction.

"Great! How do we get through this?" Otto complained.

"Hmmmm…" Sam stroked his chin when he looked up. He grinned when he noticed a small sloping platform ahead. "Hey, I'll bet anything the switch for those rails is up there."

"Alright! Let's get to it then!"

The trio jumped off their current rails and onto the platform. They grinded the rails on that one until they came to the switch. They hit it, causing the light rails to turn red and complete the path. The group jumped off the platform and landed on the red rails and go into the tunnel. As soon as they entered, they noticed four trains on surrounding tracks. The giant vehicles took off instantly. Most notably were the two trains closest to the group. Because their tracks spiraled around the trio's rails, they created a tunnel of black and red.

"Cool…" Twister said in awe.

The rails sloped downwards. The trains soon passed them and went into separate tunnels.

"I gotta say. For being evil devil trains, that was rad." Otto commented.

"Yeah." The others agreed.

The rails they were on soon ended. The group landed on some new rails that were in front of the central tunnel. As soon as the rails descended, everybody gasped in horror.

"Oh great! From rad, kaleidoscopic design to evil death trap!" Sam yelled.

Ahead, a couple of trains stopped right in their way.

"No worries, Squid! Just keep jumping!" Otto said.

When the trio was within striking distance of the first train, they jumped to the set of rails on the right. A few seconds passed before they cleared the first train and jumped back on the rails to avoid another train. When they passed the second one, they jumped back on the right rails. They danced to increase their speed. They soon hit boosters before some switches.

The light rails that were in front of them changed color and position. The red rails, instead of going left into a train, ran straight towards another tunnel. They got on normal rails as the door opened, revealing even more rails.

"You know, grinding _does_ get boring after awhile!" Twister yelled, looking up.

(Me: Don't blame _me_, blame Yuji Naka or whoever designed this stage! Besides, you're almost at the end, so quit complaining!)

"Finally!" Sam sighed, throwing his hands in the air.

Anyway, as they traveled down the rails, Otto noticed something up ahead.

"Yo! Get behind me and get ready for some major air!" He said to his teammates.

"Alright!" The others replied, jumping onto his rail.

One by one, they reached the end and jumped onto a sloping platform. They then grinded up it, only to hit a spring. They were sent soaring over a checkpoint and onto a lone rail. They grabbed some rings as they danced down this one.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Otto!" Sam said. "We just passed a checkpoint!"

"Don't worry! We probably just knocked a few seconds off our time!" The hedgehog replied.

That wasn't all they did. As they grinded down the rail, some rhino robots sped along the rails below and blasted the rails underneath the trio. Sam and Twister sweatdropped after witnessing the attack.

"Oh man! Good call, Ottoman!" Twister said.

"Yeah! You just saved our skins!" Sam agreed. Otto smirked at the comments.

"Now you know not to doubt me again, Squid!"

"Yeah right…" Sam muttered, rolling his eyes.

"What was that?" The hedgehog asked, glaring coldly at him. The fox sweatdropped and laughed nervously.

"Nothing…" He said.

"That's what I thought." Sam sighed with relief when Otto turned away from him.

They soon reached a narrow canyon where the rail ended. Ahead was a lone rail that looked out of the way.

"We can make it up there! C'mon!" Otto said.

When they reached the end of their current rail, they used Triangle Jump to bounce from wall to wall until they got to the next rail. They just barely made it.

"Whew! That was a close one!" Twister said, wiping their head.

"No kidding!" Sam screamed at him as they danced again.

"Squid, you need to learn to enjoy life a little more!" Otto said with a laugh. The fox fixed him with a cold glare.

"One of these days, Otto Rocket…" He started, shaking a fist. "One of these days, your little stunts are gonna cost you big time! Count on it!" The hedgehog only roared with laughter in response.

"Oh man! That's a good one, Squid!" He yelled, wiping a tear.

Sam cursed up a storm while they rode the rail. It looped, spiraled, and curved in all kinds of directions before ending at another tunnel. When the door to it opened, the trio saw the goal ring at the end of the tracks. Just beyond it was a part of the canyon that had gun turrets on its peak. No, seriously! At the peak were three mechanisms shaped like handguns!

"It's official: Mr. Stimpleton is crazy!" Twister screamed when he laid eyes on the structure.

"And you realize this _now_?" Sam asked, giving him a strange look.

"Forget about it, you guys! Let's just finish this stage!" Otto said.

They danced past a couple of rhino robots before reaching the end of the line, where the giant ring laid. Without a second thought, they all grabbed it, ending the stage.

"Thank goodness _this_ is over!" Sam yelled in triumph. "My legs are killing me! Let's just find Merv now and teach him a lesson!"

"Hang on, Squid! We still have to go through one more stage." Otto reminded.

"Yeah, and it'll probably have a lot more rails." Twister added. Sam's pupils shrank to the size of pebbles as he looked up.

(Me: (Sighs) He's right, again.)

Cut to a faraway view of the Grand Canyon.

"**NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!**"

To be continued…

* * *

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part One

The scene opened inside one of the theatres inside the Paragon. It was a full house. The words "To be continued…" were still onscreen for a few moments before the credits started rolling. The audience went crazy as they clapped, cheered, and even whistled. They kept cheering for a few minutes before an emcee stood on stage with a microphone in his hand.

"Ahem! Will Prince Izzy please come up here?" He said.

I stood up from my seat in the middle of the theatre. Izzy and Iggy, who looked bruised and slightly battered, stood on my left and right respectfully. We all moved out of the isle and made our way to the stage. All eyes were on us as we stood next to the emcee, who produced an envelope.

"And the final word count is…" He told the crowd as he opened the envelope.

Everybody was tense and nervous as they awaited the decision. Especially anxious were Iggy and I. Our fingers were crossed as the man read over the paper. Izzy, of course, was standing with his arms crossed. The emcee soon looked up. It was a hushed silence as everyone waited for the answer. Everyone was sweating

He grinned and gave the announcement. Everybody roared cheerfully at the number. Everybody, that is, except for Izzy, who only kicked the ground in pure annoyance. Balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling as "We are the Champions" started playing through the speakers. I was jumping for joy and punching the air as pure jubilation enveloped my soul. Iggy ran around the stage crazily.

"Congratulations, Prince Izzy!" The emcee started, shaking my hand. "You have just broken one hundred thousand words! What are you going to do now?"

"I'm gonna party!" I screamed happily. "After party at the Shore Shack!"

"Hmph! I'm going back to the studio." Izzy grunted, pushing his way out of the theatre. I shrugged nonchalantly and went back to celebrating.

The purple hedgehog looked downcast as he walked past all the screaming fans and their characters. He found their happiness horrifying to say the least. He couldn't stand their cheers and claps. But most of all, he hated my own cheerfulness. He couldn't stand for my screams and shouts. He found my pleasure in the situation disgusting. He hated seeing me happy and full of joy.

'_Now he'll be conceited…_'

While he hated me and everything I stand for, deep down, he actually may have liked me and my antics. The truth was he was only trying to keep me from committing mistakes. He knew that everyone would consider me a fool, completely insane, out of my gourd. He knew that people would hate me using him in stories. He knew that people would hate the slash fics, the conversations, the insanity. But now that I have broken this record, he now knew that he had a new thing to hate.

'_He'll never be the same ever again…_'

When he finally reached the exit, he looked back at the stage, where everyone was seen congratulating me. Iggy was still running around cheering. He sighed sadly, knowing that I'll probably get big headed after _this_ one.

"Congratulations Boss…" He sighed again, reaching into his tuxedo. A single tear rolled down his right cheek as he pulled out the gray Chaos Emerald. He held it above his head and used Chaos Control, disappearing in a gray flash.

He soon rematerialized in front of the studio, which overlooked Ocean Shores. He looked at the town and gave a small smile. The lighted Ferris wheel. The calm blue ocean sparkling. It always looked the best at night to him.

"Hmmmm… I'm in the mood for a good rest." He said, closing his eyes as he turned around. "It's gonna be hell when the boss and Iggy get back." He opened his eyes and gasped in horror.

The studio was reduced to ruins! Smoke was coming out of it in small wisps. Steel beams and wooden rafters stuck out of the wreckage. The six remaining Chaos Emeralds of Sonic's dimension were lying nearby. Izzy's mouth hung open as he walked around surveying the damage.

"What in the world happened?" He yelled to no one in particular as he gathered up the other emeralds. "The boss is so gonna kill me when he gets back, and I didn't even do anything!"

Just then, a gust of wind blew a piece of paper out of the wreckage. It landed by Izzy's feet.

"Huh? What's this?" He said, picking it up. He looked over it briefly. "Hmmmm… Looks like this is latest reviews." He looked around and shrugged. "Guess I better answer 'em." He turned to the camera.

"To Warior, that Zallammee guy should be given a medal for torturing the boss and Iggy!" He laughed. "And pretty nice fleet of ships ya got there. And I wonder how bad the pit is. It'll be fun to toss Sam in there. Heh, heh, heh…"

He looked over the paper again before looking up.

"To Mythica, the casino stages are fun, but yeah I agree, the pinball parts of the stages kinda sucked in Sonic Heroes. You're hardly able to steer yourself! And yeah, it's a major insult for the bouncers at casinos to ask for ID when I'm clearly old enough to go inside while I'm in this body!" Tears came to his eyes. "And yeah! Poor me!" He blinked and looked at it again. "A farm? Is the plant life any different on Mobius?"

Izzy cleared his throat and looked at the reviews again.

"And to Mike…" He gave the camera a somewhat irritated look. "Yeah, I got mine alright! You wouldn't BELIEVE what the boss did to me! Ugh!" He read over the paper again. "Anyway, thanks for the compliment ya gave the boss. I'll make sure he gets it. I just hope he doesn't get an even _bigger_ head than he probably has now." He groaned before looking at the paper. He sweatdropped as his eyes widened. He cleared his throat and looked at the camera.

"Ummm… Errrr… Yeah… It does seem like Lars is trying to impress Reggie, doesn't it?" He gulped and put a hand to his chin. "Now, how can I answer this without the boss killing me?" He snapped his fingers. "Ok, it's like this: As mentioned about a million times, the boss would _never_ write a Lars/Reggie fic, let alone read one. He'd rather jump off a cliff into shark infested water. The best way to explain it is that Lars is trying to get Reggie to obey him seeing as he's the leader of the team. Of course, it ain't working. Reggie hates him and Pi too much.

"And believe me, it'll be a blast when all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected! Emphasis on blast." He grinned. "I'd love to show you what happens when you get all seven with the emeralds I got right here, but I don't wanna spoil things. …Scratch that. I would _love_ to spoil the fic for you, but I just don't wanna hear the boss's mouth."

He looked at the paper again. A few moments passed before his eyes widened.

"A _hurricane_!" He yelled, looking up. "_That's_ what happened?" He then put on a scowl. "Ok! Can we _please_ quit this gag already?" He sighed and relaxed. "Oh well… I've been meaning to tell the boss we needed a new studio anyway… Well, I guess that's it! We'll see ya next chapter!"

Izzy waved at the camera as it whited out. The words "Please review!" appeared onscreen.


	14. Sam’s Worst Nightmare, Pt 2

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Two

"GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!" My voice echoed throughout the peak of the mountain that overlooked Ocean Shores and the RP fan village.

The camera zoomed in towards the mountain, which had gigantic statues of Otto, Reggie, Twister, and Sam built into the sides. The camera then showed the top of the mountain. Standing there was a building that looked remarkably similar to the temples of ancient Greece. It was at least three stories tall and as wide as a city block. It was made entirely from marble and concrete. The camera focused on the double doors in front. They were at least twenty feet tall. They were made from gold and jewels. The Rocket Power emblem was in the center of the doors. Of course, it was golden too.

"GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!" I let out another evil laugh as the doors creaked open.

Inside, the temple was exactly like the interior of the Poshley Sanctum. For those who've never played Paper Mario 2 or got that far in the game, the Poshley Sanctum is a cavernous building. It's just one big room! Beautiful green banners adored its ceiling. The floor had a red carpet extending from the entrance to the wall at the far end. Sunlight poured into the windows, illuminating the room.

The Rocket Power temple looked just about the same. Royal violet banners were strewn about the ceiling. The RP emblem was embroidered on each and every one of them. A velvet carpet stretched over the marble floor from the entrance to the end of the room. Various statues, portraits, and plaques were placed between every window. The portraits featured scenes from most of the fics that have been posted on this site. Needless to say, none of the pictures featured any romantic scenes. This was done as a precaution by the administrators of the temple to avoid offending anyone (namely yours truly). The statues mainly featured different fan characters in various poses. They were made from either stone or bronze. Finally, the silver and gold plaques had the addresses of the most popular and successful Rocket Power fan sites engraved into them.

"GWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!" My voice reverberated off the walls.

°WHAM!°

"Shaddap already!" Izzy's voice roared. "I'm getting a headache!"

"Owwwww…" I moaned.

The camera sped through the hall to the end. Standing against the wall were four statues, each depicting a member of the RP cast. The statues of Otto and Reggie, which had their arms crossed, were standing in the center. The statue of Sam was standing next to the statue of Reggie while the one of Twister was standing next to Otto. Beneath the statues of the Rocket siblings were three thrones. Two of them were placed next to each other while the third was placed higher. The seat on the bottom right was bronze while the one on the left was silver. The lone chair was made of gold.

I was sitting in the bronze throne while the other two were empty. Izzy and Iggy were standing on either side of me. The older hedgehog was on my left while his brother was on my right. The darker hedgehog had his mallet out and was glaring at me, I was rubbing the lump on my head, and Iggy was just standing there, looking pretty. The Chaos Emeralds from You-know-where were sitting in a case by my throne. I hissed in pain as I adjusted my crown. Noticing the camera, I cleared my throat and gave it a wave.

"Hey there readers! We're filming live from, well, _here_! The RP dimension's temple! As you know, last chapter, I ascended to the throne for most words in a fic when I broke a hundred thousand words!" I gave a toothy grin.

"Yeah, yeah…" Izzy grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Wow! This place is really spacious!" Iggy exclaimed, looking around. "It's a lot nicer than the old studio!"

"Hmmmm…yeah…" I sighed. "I can't believe a _hurricane_ of all things destroyed it!" I moaned and held my head.

"Whatever, Boss." My partner sneered. "It's getting rebuilt as we speak."

"I know, I know… But still… What about all the memories we had in there?"

Izzy gave me a weirded out look.

"_What_ memories!.?.!"

"Don't be silly, bro!" Iggy started, waving a dismissive hand. "Lot's of cool stuff happened in the old studio!"

The elder brother crossed his arms, expecting something stupid.

"Such as…?"

"Let's see…" The lighter hedgehog started, holding his chin. "Well, there's when I was born."

"Blech!" Izzy grimaced. "Everything went downhill after _that_!" Iggy and I gave him a curious look. "…Ok, everything _was_ going downhill long before _you_ came along."

Iggy and I rolled our eyes before turning to the camera.

"Anyway, it's time to answer the reviews for the last chapter." I started, taking out a piece of paper. "Thanks a lot, Mike, Warior, and Mythica, for the congratulations. I truly appreciate it!"

'_Yeah right…_' Izzy thought, looking the other way.

Meanwhile, I looked at the paper in my hands before facing the camera.

"First, to Mike, thanks for the compliments. I try to keep everybody's personalities in check to the best of my ability while at the same time not making them too powerful due to their skates. And that's great that you're able to visualize the scenes and what's going on. Going into this fic, that was probably my main concern: Nobody understanding what's happening. Of course, nothing beats actually playing the game for yourself!

"And yeah, Twister was actually right. I couldn't believe it either."

"Same here. I always thought he was a complete idiot who just happened to be able to use a video camera." Izzy remarked, snickering. Iggy and I glared at him.

°SQUEAK!°

"Yeow!.!.!" The hedgehog yelped, holding his head.

"That's what you get for dissing Twister!" Iggy shouted. He was leaning against his mallet, which was basically a plastic version of Izzy's weapon.

"That new… I've never seen Iggy whomp Izzy with _his_ mallet before. At least not since when he first pulled it out." I commented. I shrugged before going back to Mike's review. "Anyway, yeah, Sam had a hard time with that last stage."

"If ya ask me, he shoulda fell off!" Izzy yelled. I rolled my eyes and sweatdropped.

"Whatever… Anywho, thanks for the condolences and the use of your studio." I held my chin as I leaned back into the throne. "Hmmmm… Hey, Iggy."

"Yeah, Daddy?" The younger brother asked, turning to me.

"I want you to go to Mike's studio and tell me what the Airstream trailers he mentioned look like. Tell me how cozy they are, ok?"

"Ok! Be right back!" The energetic furry screamed, skating off towards the temple's exit. When he was gone, Izzy turned to me with a curious look.

"'Airstream trailer?'"

"Don't ask me." I shrugged, waving the paper. "It was mentioned in the review. Me, you, and Iggy each get one to stay in while we're waiting for _our_ studio to get repaired."

"Heh, pretty cool." My partner said, nodding his approval.

"Anyway…" I started, looking over the review sheet again. "To Warior…" I glared at the camera. "I hope those aliens got what they deserved!"

"I still say they shoulda been rewarded…" Izzy muttered.

°WHAM!°

"Ow!" He cried, holding his head.

"You know, it feels good to whack ya with my mallet again!" I cheered, sitting back down. I set my weapon down by the throne. "Anyway, thanks for the comments, Warior." I took another look at the paper. "And finally, to Mythica, it'd be pretty cool to have a salad or something with those vegetables ya grew." I licked my lips. "How much are they? Oh, and yeah, you're off the hook since they were Warior's aliens. Thanks for the concern though." I gave the camera a thumbs-up.

"So can we get started already?" The hedgehog asked impatiently.

"Fine, fine." I sighed, rolling my eyes again. I looked at the camera. "Now then, for this part of the chapter, Team Rocket is continuing their trip through the Grand Canyon as they enter the dangerous Bullet Station. Can the trio (especially Sam) survive the trip?"

"I hope not…" Izzy said in a sing-song voice. I glowered at him before turning to the camera.

"Anyway, enjoy the chapter!" I waved as the camera backed away from us, giving a lovely view of the temple interior before whiting out.

* * *

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Nine

Sam's Worst Nightmare

Part Two

**Stage Eight: Bullet Station**

**Mission****: Destroy Coconutman's base!**

"Hurry up, Squid!" Otto said to Sam, who was laying on the ground in a fetal position. The leader and Twister were standing by a set of rails, waiting for their flying member to recompose himself.

"Rails…bad…" The fox mumbled, rocking back and forth. His eyes were wide and unblinking. "Loops…bad… Roller coaster speeds…bad…"

The others sweatdropped.

(Izzy: Hey! Get up, fatso! I wanna see some more torment!

Me: T.T °Grabs my mallet°

°WHAM!°)

Sam blinked and stood up after hearing the voice of his rival. He looked up and gave the sky a glare.

"Why don't you come down here and say that?" He yelled, shaking a fist.

(Izzy: With pleasure!

Me: Oh no ya don't! °Grabs him°

Izzy: °Struggles° Hey! No fair!

Me: (To Sam and the others) Now hurry up and start the stage!)

"Fine." Twister said, walking towards the kitsune, who was still yelling at his rival's unseen voice. "Come on Squid, we better get moving…" He grabbed one of Sam's tails and pulled him towards Otto.

"Ya dork! You can never hope to beat me!" The fox continued his verbal assault, not noticing that he was moving.

(Izzy: Ya got some nerve, ya nerd! I can beat you anytime anywhere with both arms tied behind my back!)

"That's funny, 'cause ya haven't beaten me once yet!" Sam spat before smirking. "It's too bad you're just a disembodied voice right now! Otherwise, I'd gladly prove you wrong, again!"

(Izzy: Yeah right! Why don't you go and have a bacon chili cheeseburger or something!

Me: °Sighs° Again…

°WHAM!°)

"Why don't _you_ go and take a long walk off a short pier!" Sam retorted.

(Izzy: °Rubs his head as steam comes out his ears° Grrr… Why you little—!)

"QUIET!.!.!" Otto roared, silencing both rivals. He turned to Sam. "Let's go already! Did you forget we're on a tight schedule!"

"Oh yeah!" The fox gasped, remembering their situation.

"The Mervinator's going to launch that weapon soon!" Twister mentioned.

"We gotta get moving!" Otto ordered. The others nodded and all three of them hopped on the rails. Like in the previous stage, Otto was on the center one with Sam and Twister on the left and right rails respectfully.

(Izzy: °Waves° Bye Sammy. Hope your inhaler doesn't run out! PAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!)

"At least I don't need air skates to shred!" The fox snapped.

(Izzy: °Growls and shakes his fist°

Me: Quit agitating him already! I gotta do commentary!

Izzy: °Crosses his arms° Hmph! _Sure_, take _his_ side.

Me: °Rolls my eyes° Ugh…)

Anyway, the trio crouched as they grinded the rails. They were heading towards a narrow gorge. Near the top of the walls, the group saw a couple of gun turrets. They weren't firing, however. To the left, everybody saw a large dome-shaped building.

"It's getting kinda creepy around here, Ottoman…" Twister said frightfully.

"It's because we're getting closer to the center, bro." Otto told him as the rails dipped downwards.

"I _guess_ that means we're going in the right direction…" Sam added thoughtfully. It was then that he looked up.

The sky was getting steadily darker. Now, dark blues and purples were beginning to overshadow the reds and oranges. More stars were appearing. The moon was even starting to show itself. The fox gasped and looked at his teammates.

"We're running out of time!" He exclaimed. Otto switched his stance so he was facing him. He then gave the slightly shorter furry a glare.

"Well, maybe if ya weren't fighting with that kook—"

(Izzy: Hey!)

"—we wouldn't be so pressed for time!"

"Don't blame _me_!" Sam denied, pointing up. "It was _his_ fault!"

(Izzy: What?.! It's _your_ fault!

Me: Shaddap already!)

"Forget about it, you guys!" Twister added, switching his own stance so that he was facing his teammates. "We're almost at the end of the rails!"

That was true, for in the next few seconds, the echidna and fox each passed through a booster, propelling them towards the end of the line. The hedgehog had to dance to catch up to them. Just before the rails ended, everybody jumped. While in the air, Otto and Twister took the opportunity to perform a misty flip. Sam, on the other hand, spun his tails and took flight. He followed the others to the ground in front of the gorge. Stationed there were a jellyfish robot and two coconut pawns. The pawns were each armed with a shield and machine gun.

"Twist! Take the lead!" Otto ordered.

"Got it, bro!" Twister replied as they all landed.

Otto and Sam jumped into his hands and started rolling. The jellyfish bot floated towards them in an attempt to trap them all, but the echidna was too fast. He skated around it and charged towards the coconut pawns. The robots saw Twister approaching and opened fire.

"Hee-yah!" Twister exclaimed as he jumped over the bullets and reared back his left fist. He targeted the right pawn and launched Otto at it. The hedgehog was engulfed in fire as soon as he left his best friend's hands. He collided with the pawn, causing it to lose its shield. Before it can fire again, Otto slammed both fists into the robot's head, destroying it.

Meanwhile, Twister launched Sam at the remaining coconut pawn. The fox-turned-fireball crashed into the robot, knocking off its shield in the process. It ignored its loss and targeted him. The kitsune covered his eyes and ducked, expecting the end. He looked up when he heard a clang and a small explosion. Twister had driven his fist into the robot's head.

"Thanks, Twist." Sam said with a grin.

"Heh. No prob, Squid." The echidna replied with a thumbs-up.

That was when the jellyfish robot hovered towards them. Sam's eyes widened as he gasped.

"Look out!"

Without thinking, he stood up and kicked Twister towards the robot. Electricity crackled around him.

"Woah!" He yelped in surprise as he flew. He quickly rolled into a ball and hit the robot, paralyzing it. Otto made the final blow with a homing attack.

"Whew…" He said as he wiped his forehead. "That was some fight!" He helped his best bro up.

"No kidding…" Twister said before turning to Sam with a scowl. "And what was _that_ about?.!"

"Sorry about that." Sam started, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "That robot came out of nowhere." The echidna sighed and dropped his stare.

"Whatever. Forget about it. Let's go."

The trio skated up to the beginning of the gorge. There was a path going down towards a trio of rails that led to a new platform. Above the path were three small platforms that were bolted into the walls. They were moving in a set pattern. They would be lying horizontally one moment and laying vertically the next.

"We better go down that path…" Sam said.

"Forget it, Squid!" Otto told him. "We're in a hurry! Follow me!"

The hedgehog took the lead and skated forward. He jumped just before the path dipped down and used his homing attack to cling to the wall. Twister and Sam followed suit. Using Triangle Jump, they were able to cut across to the other side of the gorge in a few seconds. They all landed on the new platform.

"See, what'd I tell ya?" Otto bragged, blowing on his fist. "Got here in nothing flat."

"Whatever." Sam sighed, rolling his eyes. The hedgehog scowled at him before looking ahead. Their path was blocked by three capsules that looked more like spaceships than anything else.

"Whatever those things are, they're weird." He muttered before turning to Twister. "Bust those things, bro!"

"Got it, dude!" Twister acknowledged as he clenched his spiked fists. He ran head on and barreled through the capsules, providing a passage for him and his teammates.

The path winded to the left. On either side were three capsules. Two coconut pawns were standing guard. One had a lance while the other had a shield and energy gun. The former ran towards the trio with its lance drawn while the latter charged its gun.

"Woah!" Sam cried as they jumped out of the way. "Twist, take care of them!"

"Ok! Jump into my hands, you guys!" The echidna replied. The others did as they were told as the robot with the gun fired a small ball of energy. Twister dodged the attack and used Fire Dunk on both robots, destroying them. A red power core appeared.

"Yes! Level-up!" Otto shouted as he grabbed it and felt its energy surging within him. "Let's get moving!"

They continued to the edge of the platform they were on. A rail was nearby. It was going in a circle. A rhino bot was traveling along it. The leader took care of it with a quick homing attack before jumping on the rail. The others followed and danced along the circular track before reaching a cliff. Three rails were embedded into it.

The trio jumped on the new rails and grinded them. The rails curved to the left as they danced. Soon, a couple of rhino bots were rolling along the left and right rails. Sam and Twister narrowly avoided them by jumping over them. They sighed with relief as they wiped their sweaty heads.

"Woah! End of the line, guys!" Otto announced.

"Huh?" Sam and Twister asked, looking ahead. The rails ended at the door to a small building. Above it was a yellow fly formation signal. "Ahhhhhh!.!.!"

"Get into fly formation!" The hedgehog ordered.

"Uhhh… right!" Sam said weirdly. How does he expect to get into formation while grinding?.!

Before the rail ended, the fox wound up his tails and spun them, taking flight. Otto jumped up and grabbed his hands. Before they can get out of reach, Twister grabbed onto his best bro's feet. The extra addition of his weight weighed them down. The echidna's feet remained planted on the middle rail.

"Twist! Jump off it!" Otto commanded desperately. Twister hopped up before they could crash into the door. Sam spun his tails faster as he lifted his friends over the building. He panted as he landed on the roof.

"That was…close…" He breathed.

"No kidding…" Twister said, fanning himself.

"C'mon! We don't have any time left!" Otto panicked, skating ahead. The others got up and followed.

They went to the end of the roof, where a hole was present. It was protected by a grating. Floating above it was an orange power formation monitor. The dome they saw earlier loomed ahead of them.

"What's with that thing?" The echidna asked.

"Beats me." Otto answered with a shrug.

"It looks like we have to get inside to continue on." Sam commented, holding his chin. "But how?"

"Hmmmm…" Twister looked around until he noticed the grating. "Maybe we can bust inside."

"And just how do you expect us to do that?" The fox asked, crossing his arms indignantly. The echidna thought for a moment before smirking evilly.

"I'm glad you asked, Squid." He said, creeping up on him. Without warning, he grabbed Sam and rolled him up into a ball. Ignoring his protests, Twister jumped up and launched him at the grating.

"YEOW!.!.!" Sam yelled as he crashed into it. The grating was knocked loose by the attack and fell down a deep shaft. After he rubbed his nose, which was most likely bleeding, he turned and cursed out the echidna. Smirking defiantly, Twister waved him off.

"Chill Squid. We had to find a way inside, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but ya didn't have to toss me into that thing!" The fox ranted. "Ya probably broke my nose with that little stunt!"

"Oops?" Twister shrugged, causing Sam to fall over.

"Oops?.!" He shouted as he stood up. "Just you wait til this nightmare is over!" He shook his fist to prove his point. Twister sweatdropped and held his hands in defense.

"Like a freaking married couple…" Otto groaned, slapping his head. "If you two are done, let's go!" He moved towards the newly-made hole. Sam and Twister turned from their argument and faced the leader.

"We're not going down there, are we?.!" Sam gasped.

"Yes we are!" The hedgehog snapped.

"Oh no I'm not!" The fox yelled, crossing his arms. Otto responded by snapping his fingers. Twister snuck up behind Sam and grabbed his tails. "What the—? Let go!" He struggled as the echidna dragged him towards the hole.

"Quit fighting or I'll toss you in." The one in the winged helmet threatened, tightening his grip.

"You wouldn't." The one in the shark helmet challenged with a glare.

"I tossed you at that grating, didn't I?" Twister smirked as Sam put on a look of resignation.

"True…" He sighed as he stood straight up and walked over to the edge of the hole. "Let's just go." Otto gave them both an impatient look.

"If you guys keep fighting like that, we'll _never_ reach Merv in time!"

"I wonder how much time we have left." Twister said.

"Not a whole lot, that's for sure!" The hedgehog got ready to jump. "Let's move!" And he jumped in.

"See ya, Squid!" Twister shouted as he followed his best bro. Sam smirked as he tip-toed away.

"Uhhh…yeah… I think I'll just take the scenic route and meet up with you guys later!"

He was about to start skating when Twister's outstretched arm reached out and grabbed him. Before Sam could protest, he was pulled right in.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!"

The fox plummeted for quite some time before he landed beside his teammates. The first thing he noticed was that whatever they were on was moving fast. He stood up groggily. There were capsules and boxes all around, not to mention a few guard robots.

"Ugh… Where are we?"

"It looks like we're in some kind of tunnel." Otto answered.

"And we're on a train." Twister added.

"Merv must be using this tunnel to transport materials for robots." Sam hypothesized.

"Oh yeah?" Otto asked with a smirk as devilish as the trains from the last stage.

"Uh-oh…" The fox said, recognizing that look. "What are you planning?"

"Oh nothing…" The hedgehog started, never losing his smirk. "Except for maybe messing up Merv's plans here."

"Oh! You mean destroy the train?.!" Twister asked, understanding what his best bro meant.

"Not just the train, the whole tunnel!" Otto gave him a thumbs-up. "You with me?.!"

"You know it!" The echidna punched the air. Sam sighed, seeing no other choice.

"But how do we do it?" He asked.

"I bet if we trash the engine car, we'll destroy the tunnel." Otto answered, skating ahead. "Come on!" The others followed.

A checkpoint was nearby. This didn't go unnoticed by the hedgehog who, despite his teammates' protests, activated it. He received his second level-up as they took care of a lone coconut pawn. The robot was guarding some wooden boxes that were stacked on top of one another. His curiosity getting the better of him, Twister destroyed the boxes with several punches. To his great fortune, an item bubble containing an orange power core was revealed.

"This seems a lot easier than I thought." Sam commented as the echidna got his first level-up.

"Yeah. I know what you mean." Twister agreed.

"Quit talking and get moving!" Otto ordered. The others skated after him and make it to the engine car. A single jellyfish robot was guarding the core of the engine. The energy source was a bluish white orb.

"Alright Twist!" The leader started. "Sam and me will take care of that robot so you can destroy that engine core!"

"What?.!" Sam yelled.

"Got it!" Twister said, ignoring the fox. He ran ahead past the robot to the core. Needless to say, the robot floated towards him.

"Hey ugly! Over here!" Otto shouted, trying to get the robot's attention. Apparently, it worked as the bot turned and went towards the hedgehog and kitsune. "Now Sammy!"

"Right!" Sam acknowledged as he reached into the satchel he grabbed at his garage. He pulled out a fake ring and tossed it at the jellyfish robot. As soon as it hit the bot, it crackled with electricity, paralyzing the robot. Before it can recover, Otto used his homing attack and destroyed it.

"C'mon Twist! Bust that thing!" He said as he brushed himself off. Twister nodded at him before turning back to the task at hand.

"Ok!" He raised his right fist. "Here goes nothing!"

He let his fist fly into the engine core, shattering it. What followed was a great explosion that caused the train to go flying off the tracks.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!.!.!" The group screamed.

The train crashed into the wall, causing them to go flying outside. They flew for several feet before landing on a set of rails. They sighed with relief as they grinded.

"That was _not_ fun, Otto!.!.!" Sam roared at his leader.

"You're right…" Otto started, bowing his head. The fox smirked defiantly. To his surprise, the hedgehog brought his head up with a toothy grin. "That was totally awesome!"

"Yeah!.!.!" Twister agreed, punching the air.

"Ugh!" Sam groaned, falling over. He screamed before quickly flying back up to his rail with a scowl on his face. He muttered curses to himself as the rails went into a steep decline.

"Aw yeah! Now _this_ is speed!" Otto exclaimed, crouching as the rails went ever lower. Not wanting to get left behind, Twister and Sam followed suit. Soon, the rails evened out, allowing the trio to dance along them. However, that soon came to an end when Sam gasped.

"Otto! You're gonna crash!"

"Wha?" Otto looked ahead. His eyes widened when he noticed that his rail ended with a huge spiked ball! "Oh crap!"

"Ottoman, jump on my rail!" Twister called.

Before he could collide with the black sphere, the hedgehog hopped on the right rail and hit a booster, sending him into a loop-de-loop. Twister also got a speed boost as he entered the loop.

"Oh no! Here we go again!" Sam yelped as he hit the booster on the left rail. That rail also went into a loop-de-loop. He shut his eyes as he went upside down.

After the loop, both rails spiraled downwards. Otto and Twister's curved to the left while Sam's went to the right. All three of them danced for a few seconds before their rails ended with a couple of springs. Lucky for them, another rail was nearby. The trio was propelled into the air. Otto and Twister grabbed their legs and spun in the air while Sam did a mid-air breaststroke to get to the next rail. All three of them landed on the rail safely, much to the fox's relief.

"Oh man… That was close…" He panted as he grinded.

"Well, _that_ was fun!" Otto cheered. "I wonder what's next."

"It looks like we're heading for a station." Twister said.

Up ahead, the rail spiraled down and to the right. It ended at the bottom of a tower. On its roof, the group noticed half of a set of blue light rails. They were going up and to the left towards a set of normal rails.

"Hmmmm… I wonder how we get up there…" Sam said, holding a hand to his chin.

"Let's worry about getting over there first, Squid!" Otto told him as the rails started to curve. All of them started dancing as they got closer to the bottom part of the tower. Their speed increased as kept it up.

"What a ride." Twister commented.

"Ugh… Getting dizzy again…" Sam groaned, getting green in the face. The others rolled their eyes in exasperation.

Before the rail ended, the group jumped off and landed near the base of the tower. They then surveyed their surroundings. In the center of the base was a cannon. Floating near it were three monitors, each standing for a different formation. The power formation monitor was pointing straight ahead towards an out-of-the-way platform. The speed formation monitor was pointing towards an almost cave-like cliff that only had three springs placed. Two were on the bottom and one was on the ceiling. The ones on the bottom were lined up one behind the other. The fly formation monitor was across from the speed one, but didn't seem to be facing anything in particular.

"So, which way do we go?" Twister asked.

"We'll take the speed route, duh!" Otto answered, skating towards the cannon. Sam and Twister rolled their eyes before following. They hopped into the cannon and let it move towards the cliff.

°BOOM!°

They were fired as balls towards the springs. They hit the rear spring on the bottom first. They were then sent to the spring on the ceiling and then into the bottom front one. The trio was propelled to a small, slanted, floating platform. They grinded the rails planted there until they each hit a booster that sent them to another platform. This one was lying horizontally and had an item bubble containing a red power core on it. Before leaping off the platform, Otto grabbed it, giving him his final level-up.

"Alright!" He shouted as they all landed on the top of the tower.

Across from them were two coconut pawns. Like the last couple of pawns the trio dealt with, they were armed with a shield and machine gun. There were guarding a couple of cages. Floating above each case was a sign. The one on the left displayed an arrow pointing northeast while the one on the right pointed in the opposite direction.

The trio was able to take care of the robots with no trouble at all. Defeating them caused the two cages to lower, revealing switches identical to the circular ones they found in the previous area of the canyon. Another result was the appearance of the other half of the light rails. Now they made a full rotation around the tower.

"So how do we get up to those rails?" Twister asked, looking up at the far off rails.

"It should be obvious what we have to do." Sam scoffed, adjusting his glasses.

"Well, Einstein?" Otto asked, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.

"We hit just the right switch." The kitsune answered. The hedgehog and echidna looked at each and shrugged.

"Worth a shot, I guess." The former said.

"Yeah…" The latter added, nodding as he moved towards the right switch. Twister spun it around. Doing so caused the right half of the light rails to turn red and connect the blue rails to the normal ones. Awestruck, Otto and Twister turned to Sam, who smirked at them.

"H-how did you know?" Otto asked.

"Just a lucky guess." Sam replied with a shrug. The others slapped their heads before moving to the left side of the tower's roof, where the blue light rails began. They each hit a boost pad and got on their usual rails.

They danced up the sapphire and ruby rails until they reached the normal one, which curved to the right. They hit a couple of boosters, which sent them up a ninety degree angle until they reached the next platform. A checkpoint was in front of them. On either side of them, a rhino bot rode a rail and fired cannonballs at them.

"Woah!" Otto yelped, dodging a projectile. "Take the lead, Squid!"

"Yikes!" Sam shouted, barely avoiding a cannonball. "Right!"

He grabbed the checkpoint and got his first level-up. The trio then switched to fly formation and attacked the robots with Thunder Shoot. Before they can recover from their paralysis, Otto destroyed them with his homing attack.

"Man that was crazy!" Twister yelled when it was all over.

"Come on! Let's move!" Otto ordered, jumping onto the right rail the robot was using. His teammates followed suit.

By grinding the rail, the trio was able to cut some seconds off their time. The rail curved to the left as they danced. As they moved, they noticed more gun turrets placed on the canyon walls. Fortunately for our heroes, they didn't fire at them. The rail dipped downwards past a fan before ascending and ending in front of a pole. The team jumped off the rail.

"Whew. Some ride, huh?" Twister said, wiping his forehead.

"No…kidding…" Sam panted.

"We're not done yet!" Otto said, walking towards the pole. He turned to his teammates. "Hang on!"

The hedgehog jumped up and used Rocket Twister. He generated a red funnel of wind as he spun around the pole. Before his attack ended, he grabbed on and started swinging up it. Sam and Twister grabbed on to his legs and were taken for the ride. They all spun around and around until they reached the top. Otto let go, causing them to go flying over a chasm to another pole that was floating there. They all grabbed on and swung up that one before going flying towards the other side of the chasm. There were rails planted into the floor of the next ledge.

Before they landed, Otto and Twister performed a 180° spin. Sam just positioned himself so that he can land on the left rail. All of them got on their respectable rails with no problem and danced along them. The rails curved to the right as they kept moving. They were nearing the end of the rails when a rhino bot rolled on Otto's rail in an attempt to ram him.

"Oh no ya don't!" The hedgehog exclaimed. He jumped off the rail gave the robot a hard kick, derailing it. He got back on his rail and followed his friends to the end.

When they reached the end of the line, the team hopped off and landed on the platform. Ahead was a closed door. On the floor in front of it were three switches that were arranged in a triangular position. Above the door was a power formation monitor.

"Guess you'll have to take the lead for this part, Twist." Sam said to the echidna.

"Alright." Twister said with a nod.

The trio switched to power formation. Twister stood in the middle, Otto stood on his left, and Sam stood on his right. They stepped towards the switches and flicked them at the same time. With a ding, the door opened, revealing a hallway.

Staying in power formation, the trio skated through the hall until they were outside again. They were at a dead-end that was fenced. On the other side of the fence, they could see one of the handgun-shaped turrets strewn throughout the area. There was a metal grating in the middle of the floor.

"Maybe we can get outta here if you pound the floor, bro." Otto said to the one in the winged helmet. Twister nodded.

"Got it, dude!"

He jumped at the grating with his right fist held out. He crashed it into the panel, causing it to fall down a shaft. He hissed slightly at the pain in his hand as he stood up. It seemed that he's gotten used to punching hard objects since that painful experience back at Seaside Hill. After nursing his hand, he and Otto moved over to the newly-created hole.

"Let's go guys!" The leader said, jumping in.

"Wahoo!" Twister shouted, following him. Sam sweatdropped and sighed.

"Here we go again." He moved over to the hole and jumped in. Screaming all the way, he fell the surprisingly short distance to the bottom. "Ow!.!.!" He yelped when he landed. He shot up and rubbed his sore butt. "I wonder if we have to go through anymore twenty foot drops on this journey…" He hissed in pain.

"Look alive, Squid!" Otto shouted, getting into a fighting pose.

"Yeah, we got company!" Twister added, putting up his fists. Sam looked over their shoulders and gasped. A gold jellyfish robot and two coconut pawns were heading right towards them.

"Tell me when it's over!" The fox yelled, cowering behind his friends, who struggled to avoid falling over.

"_Squid_! This is a fight! Don't wimp out on us!" Otto scolded. Sam only shuddered in response. Rolling their eyes, the hedgehog and echidna left to take care of the robots. They punched, kicked, and homing attacked the automatons.

When the battle ended, Sam looked up at all the scattered robot parts. A yellow power core was lying nearby. The two best bros were giving each other a high five. After grabbing the core and getting his second level-up, the fox walked up to them.

"Glad _that's_ over…" He murmured. Otto and Twister turned to him with a scowl.

"No thanks to you." The former said.

"Yeah, how about you lend us a hand next time?" The latter added. Sam rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh, heh… Sorry about that…" He apologized sheepishly.

"Forget about it." Otto said before skating onward. The others followed.

The trio went up a nearby flight of stairs. When they reached the top, they found themselves at another dead-end. This time, a huge chasm separated them from the mountain containing the gun tower. Seemingly, the only way across was a cannon that was ahead. The furries looked at each other and nodded before climbing into the weapon. It targeted the other side of the chasm and fired. Sam screamed as they flew the relatively short distance to the other side. They landed safely and skidded to a halt.

"Man, you'd think ya woulda gotten used to getting blasted by now, Squid." Twister commented to a panting Sam. The kitsune in question glared at him as he stood up.

"I'm telling you," He started with a growl. "If we ever make it through this whole thing alive, the only extreme thing I'll be doing for the next few months will be lifting the remote and consuming mass quantities of junk food!" Otto and Twister snickered in response, causing Sam to glower at them dangerously.

"One word and you'll live to regret it." He threatened as he walked forward. The others' sniggering continued for a few seconds before they finally broke down and rolled around laughing. Sam gritted his teeth at their taunting laughter. His fists shook at his sides as the ever annoying sound continued to eat at him and eat at him. His face slowly started turning redder and redder in rage.

The fox turned and got ready to give the other two boys the tongue-lashing of a lifetime when he felt something warm.

"Huh?"

Curious, he reached behind him and pulled out the red Chaos Emerald they found after battling Dr. Coconutman at the beach. It was glowing brightly.

"Hey guys! Take a look at this!" He called over to Otto and Twister. The two finally stopped laughing and turned towards Sam. They immediately shot up and ran over when they noticed the jewel.

"Woah…" Twister said in awe. He looked at Sam curiously. "Why is it glowing?"

"Beats me." Sam answered with a shrug.

"Hmmmm…" Otto held a hand to his chin as he looked at the emerald. He held his hand out. "Let me see something."

"Alright…" The fox said, handing him the emerald. As soon as it landed in the hedgehog's palm, the glowing dimmed slightly.

"Did you see that?.!" Twister whispered to the others.

"I wonder…" Otto muttered, walking forward. He moved towards a locked door that seemed to lead into the gun tower. As he got closer and closer to the door, the emerald glowed brighter and brighter. The light was near blinding as the leader reached the door. Of course, he wasn't affected due to his sunglasses. Sam and Twister walked up behind him, being careful not to get too close to the light.

"It must be reacting to something on the other side." Sam observed. Twister walked up to the door and felt around for some way inside. No such luck.

"It's locked tight. We can't get inside."

"There _has_ to be a way inside." The fox said.

"C'mon." Otto said, putting the emerald away. "Another door has to be around here somewhere."

"Right." The others agreed, nodding.

They skated to the right, where there seemed to be a new path. A gold jellyfish bot was in the way, but it was taken care of instantly. Beyond the robot was a narrow path that went to the left over a great drop.

"It's really steep here." The one in the winged helmet said.

"Better be careful." The one in the shark helmet added.

"Come on, you bunch of Squids." The one in the dome helmet jeered. "This is nothing!"

They continued by slowing walking across the bridge. They held their arms on either side of themselves for balance. When they were halfway through, a stray wind blew.

"Woah!" Everybody yelped, starting to lose their balance.

"Just keep going guys!" Otto said.

"Ahhh, ahhh, ohhhh…" Sam sputtered, waving his arms madly.

Everybody continued, putting one shaky foot in front of the other. They soon made it to the other side and sighed with heavy relief.

"Whew… I never wanna go through that ever again…" Twister panted.

"You said it, bro…" Otto agreed, panting as well.

"You know what's funny?" Sam started, chuckling. "We could've just skipped that whole ordeal by flying to the other side."

°DOUBLE WHAM!°

"For my next trick…!" The fox said dizzily before falling over. His eyes were two swirls following Otto and Twister's attack. They had knocked him upside the head.

"Ugh… And he's supposed to be the nerd?" Otto asked, crossing his arms.

"Ya think he woulda said something sooner." Twister added, also crossing his arms. They both closed their eyes while nodding. They both opened them and shrunk back with fear in their expressions.

Two coconut pawns were staring them down! They pointed their guns at the trio. Otto and Twister smirked as the robots got ready to fire.

"They don't really think they could take us, do they?" The former started.

"Sure looks like it, dude." The latter replied. They both looked at each other mischievously before giving the robots an evil grin.

°POW!°

Both bots were punched backwards by the two boys. Before they can retaliate, Twister took Otto in his hands and used Fire Dunk. As soon as the robots were destroyed, a beeping sound filled the air.

"Our Team Blast meter's full." Sam said, walking up to his teammates. He pressed a button on his watch, stopping the alarm.

"_Finally!_ We must be halfway through this stage!" Twister said, throwing his hands up.

"Only halfway?.! I thought we'd be close to the end by now!" Otto groaned. It was clear he was still worried about time.

Without another word, he skated ahead. The others followed until they reached another door. Like the last one they found, it was locked. To their right was a fenced off alcove. A switch was there, as well as two capsules identical to the ones they've been seeing ever since they entered this area.

"Guess we gotta flick that switch." Twister said.

"Duh!" Otto remarked, turning to Sam. "Let's go."

"Got it." Sam said, nodding. They switched to fly formation and flew over the fence.

As soon as they landed, Otto flipped the switch. However, nothing happened.

"Oh great! Don't tell me there are other switches too!" He shouted impatiently.

"Chill, bro. I bet the other ones are around here somewhere." Twister comforted.

"Oh yeah? Where?.! It's not like they're under those weird capsule things!"

"I bet they are." Sam spoke up.

"Yeah right, Squid!" Otto argued. "There's nothing under there!"

"If you're so sure…" The fox trailed off, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he turned to the echidna. "Twist, punch out those capsules."

"Alright, Sammy…" Twister said with a hint of confusion. He turned towards the capsules and reared back his right fist. He punched both of them to scrap metal, revealing two more switches. Sam smirked defiantly at his leader who sneered at him.

"Shut up and flick the damn switches."

"Flicking…" Sam said in a sing-song voice as he and Twister flipped the two switches. The nearby door opened, granting access to the gun tower. They switched to fly formation, flew back over the fence, and entered.

They walked through a small hall and entered a large room. It consisted of an immense mechanism that took up the entire center of the chamber. There were several holes in it. A metal pillar was sticking out of the middle of the machine. The room was also patrolled by four armed coconut pawns.

"What is that thing, Sam?" Otto asked as they engaged the robots.

"I think…that's the drive for the cannons…!" Sam panted as he avoided the robots' shots.

"I wonder what'll happen if we load it with something!" Twister mentioned as he punched out a couple of the pawns.

"Who knows?.!" Otto shouted as he attacked the other two robots.

"And besides, what are we supposed to load it with?.!" Sam asked, tossing some fake rings. They paralyzed the pawns as soon as they hit.

"Beats me!" Twister replied as he destroyed the remaining bots. A yellow power core appeared, allowing the fox to fully level-up.

"What the…?" Otto said in surprise. He had felt something warm. He pulled out the Chaos Emerald, which bathed the room in a crimson glow.

"It's reacting again." Sam said.

"But to what?" The hedgehog asked. The smaller boy shrugged in response.

Rolling his eyes, Otto walked around the room, seemingly trying to find something. With each step, the emerald glowed brighter. It soon glowed with the energy of a small star. The leader wasn't affected by the light so much as the heat coming from the jewel. He hissed as it started to burn his hand. He kept his fist clenched as he looked up. He was in front of a chamber that was blocked off by a stack of metal boxes. Otto turned to his teammates, who were looking at him curiously.

"What is it, Ottoman?" Twister asked.

"Whatever's causing this thing to glow is on the other side of these crates." The hedgehog answered.

"Leave it to me!" The echidna punched his fists as he moved towards the boxes. With a battle cry, he pounded the boxes. As soon as they fell, a silver glow filled the room, merging with the light emitting from the red emerald. The trio looked inside the newly opened chamber and gasped.

Inside was the gray Chaos Emerald.

"It's another emerald!" Sam exclaimed, walking inside and grabbing it.

"I wonder if they're really as powerful as you say." Otto said idly as the fox handed him the jewel. He put away both emeralds, causing the glowing to cease.

"Well, if we can get the other five, we'll find out."

"Guess so."

"Hey, I just thought of something!" Twister yelled frightfully.

"What?" Otto and Sam asked worriedly.

"We left the Master Emerald at home!" The echidna panicked, holding his face. "What if Reggie steals it?.!"

"I thought you guys woogied so that she would leave it alone." Sam commented. Twister blinked at that before relaxing.

"Oh yeah…" He said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I almost forgot that. I guess it's safe then."

"C'mon! We gotta get moving!" Otto told them. The others gave him a nod.

Meanwhile…

There was a bright flash of gray light in Twister's bedroom. It took a few moments for the light to die down, revealing Izzy the Hedgehog. He had a mischievous look on him as he pocketed the gray Chaos Emerald from the Sonic Dimension.

"Heh, heh. Looks like the coast is clear." He snickered, turning towards the bed, where the Master Emerald lied. "No one's around. Once I grab this beauty, I'll be the richest hedgehog in the world! I could see it all now."

He envisioned himself being surrounded by piles upon piles of money. He imagined himself being on the cover of every magazine. He daydreamed of being at every single gala event, including mall openings. He'd be able to rub elbows with all the important people. His mouth overflowed with drool at the thought. He laughed greedily when he returned to the world of the living.

"Yes! All of my dreams will come true!"

He reached out towards the massive jewel, ready to live out his wildest fantasies. As soon as he grabs the emerald and calls out his teleportation technique, he'll be able to rake in the cash. People would pay millions just to see the shining rock. And not just that. He could use the power of the emerald to get revenge on a certain two-tailed fox.

"MUAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.! It's mine, all mine!" He laughed madly as he finally grabbed it. He then embraced it.

"Oh baby," He started, rubbing it. "It was worth all the torment I had to go through. It was all worth it for you!" He puckered his lips and moved closer to the emerald.

(Me: Ok, drop it.)

"What the…?" Izzy said, moving his face away. He then looked up. "Whaddya what?.! I'm kinda busy!"

(Me: You heard me. Drop it!)

"Make me." The hedgehog stuck out his tongue at the ceiling.

(Me: °Sighs as I snap my fingers°)

°ZAAAAAAAAAAAP!.!.!°

A bolt of lightning had entered the window and struck Izzy. He screamed in pain as the electricity charred his insides. His shrieks continued as his bones were revealed within the light. When the attack ended, he was black all over. His eyes were wide and blinking as he continued to hold the Master Emerald. He coughed out a cloud of smoke as he dropped the jewel on the bed. The piece of furniture creaked under its weight.

"Ouch…" He coughed again. He shook the soot out of his head quills and dusted himself off.

(Me: Now stop fooling around and get back to the temple!)

Izzy growled as he pulled out the gray Chaos Emerald with a sneer.

"Chaos Control!"

And he disappeared the same way he entered; in a flash of gray light.

Back at Bullet Station…

"So what do we load this thing with?" Twister asked. He and his teammates were examining the cannon's drive.

"Well, _we_ need to use it to move on, so…" Otto trailed off, a smirk playing on his lips. Sam gasped in horror.

"You're not suggesting we _jump_ in this thing, are you?.!"

"Actually, I was going to say we could wait near the guns for a bullet to shoot and we ride it, but I like your idea better."

The fox fell over after that one.

"I don't know about this, Otto…" Twister spoke up.

"C'mon bro. It'll be fun!" Otto reassured, hopping into one of the drive's holes. The echidna tilted his head in thought before nodding.

"Well… If you say so…" He jumped into another hole.

"Ohhhhh no! There's no way you're getting me to do _this_ one!" Sam yelled, crossing his arms. "I may have allowed myself to get blasted out of those smaller cannons before, but I'm NOT getting blasted out of this gigantic one! You hear me!.?.!"

"Fine." Otto started, popping his head out. He smirked at his twin-tailed companion before adding casually, "Either do it or get left behind." His smirk turned into a toothy grin when he saw Sam's gaping expression. The fox glared at him before sighing in resignation.

"You win…" He said, climbing into an empty hole.

As soon as Sam entered, the mechanism raised out of the floor. To anyone watching, it looked like the chamber of a gun, and the trio was the bullets!

"Alright! Here we go!" Otto cheered, ready for some action.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Sam groaned at the hedgehog's eagerness.

"Hmmmm… Which way is the cannon facing, you guys?" Twister asked.

Just then, they felt the cannons' barrels moving until the one the team was inside pointed towards a narrow canyon full of mining equipment.

"Get ready, you guys!" Otto said as they heard a loud clicking sound from within the cannon. Sam gulped nervously as the clicking got louder and louder until…

°BOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!°

"**AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!**" Sam wailed uncontrollably as he, Otto, and Twister were fired out of the cannon as balls. The "bullets" entered the canyon as the fox continued his screaming. Up ahead, they noticed that they were approaching several balloons that were floating near the walls.

"Hey Otto!" Twister called. "I think we could move around!"

"Alright!" Otto responded. "Let's see if we can grab those balloons up ahead!"

"Got it!"

Ignoring Sam's screeching, the two boys moved left and right as they reached the balloons. They managed to pop quite a few as they soared through the air. They were able to grab a ton of rings, not to mention a power core or two. By the time they reached the end of their flight, their nonexistent pockets were filled to the brim with the golden doughnuts. Twister had also fully leveled-up. They popped a couple more balloons when they noticed they were approaching some rails.

"Guys! Move to the left!" Otto commanded. Even Sam stopped screaming as all three of them moved to the left. They unrolled as they flew over the rail. They allowed themselves to fall and land on it.

"Phew! What a trip!" Twister said as they grinded.

"You said it!" Otto cheered, punching the air.

"I think my…heart stopped…" Sam panted, reaching for his asthma medicine. After several, by which I mean about a hundred, deep breaths, he was all set to go.

Being careful not to crash into each other, the team danced down the rail. They hit a couple of boosters before being sent through a loop-de-loop. As soon as they got through it, two new rails started to the right of the one they were on. Otto and Twister got on them while Sam stayed on the left rail. About a second passed before they were sent through light rails and up a wall. They each hit a switch, changing the color and position of the rails. The red light rails now pointed down towards a new set of normal rails.

"Oh man… I'm getting hungry…" Sam groaned, holding his stomach as they landed on the rails.

"You're _hungry_?" Otto asked, giving him a confused look. Sam nodded in response.

"After all that vomiting and grinding, I'm ready for a double cheeseburger."

"Heh. You sure you haven't thrown up enough yet?" Twister teased. Sam growled at him.

"After being forced through all this, I think I _deserve_ a little break!" He shouted.

"We're not gonna have a break if we don't beat Merv!" Otto yelled. "Let's go!"

The trio danced as the rails curved to the right. It spiraled downwards as they grinded. Because the rails tilted upwards and to the left, everybody had to stop dancing and fight for balance. Soon, the rails straightened out. Just before the rails ended, the team's position switched. Twister was on the middle rail, Otto was on the left, and Sam was on the right.

"What the—? How'd that happen?.!" Twister asked as they hit a set of boosters and was launched off the rails.

"I guess there was a formation gate back there!" Sam answered as they soared towards a new platform.

"Hmph! I don't care! Let's get back to speed formation!" Otto ordered as they landed.

"Uhhh… I think we better stay in power formation, bro." The echidna said.

"Why?.!" The hedgehog demanded. Twister only pointed ahead. The only way to get up to the next level was through a fan. Otto sweatdropped. "Oh…"

"We better hurry." Sam started, looking at the sky. "It'll be dark soon."

"Right!" Otto nodded, turning to his best friend. "Let's go, Twist!"

"Alright!" Twister replied. The team moved towards the fan.

Using Triangle Dive, everybody soared above the fan to the next section of the platform. This part also had a fan, so the trio rode the air current coming from _that_ one until they reached the third level, where a jellyfish bot was waiting. Before landing, Twister took it out with Fire Dunk. When Sam and Twister (the echidna had tossed Otto) landed on the platform, the whole team noticed a weight trap. It was just a floating weight that would drop every few seconds.

"Puh-lease! Does he really think that'll stop me?" Otto scoffed.

Using the speed granted by their air skates, the trio blasted past the trap with no problem. Up ahead was a path of rings that went up and to the left towards a ledge. Using Otto's light speed dash, they grabbed the rings and sped towards the ledge. They landed on a rail and grinded it until they reached a hook that was in front of a small building like the one they saw at the beginning of the stage. Otto grabbed it first. Sam grabbed his feet and Twister grabbed Sam's. They were lifted up until they were level with the roof. They jumped onto the roof and skated until they reached a grating that was in front of a dome-shaped building.

"Heh. Looks like another transport tunnel." Otto said, smirking.

"Oh no…" Sam said, his eyes widening as he remembered what happened earlier. "Don't tell me we're going to destroy another train! After what happened last time?.!"

"Yep!" The hedgehog grinned as he turned to Twister. "Bust that grating open and let's go!"

"Got it, Ottoman!" Twister saluted as he grabbed an unwilling Sam.

"Aw man! Not again!" He groaned as he was rolled into a ball. Twister jumped up and tossed Sam at the grating. The fireball crashed into it, causing it to fall down a deep shaft.

"Ow…" Sam groaned, standing up. The tip of one of his tails was still on fire. Ignoring the snickering of his friends, he licked his thumb and snuffed out the flame. "Let's just move on before I get even madder than I already am."

"Heh, heh, heh… Alright…Sammy…" Otto said, trying to stifle his laughter. As he hopped in the hole, he let it all out in one mighty roar. Sam slumped forwards as he turned to Twister, who had controlled his laughter. His arms were crossed.

"Well, aren't you going in after him?" Sam asked.

"Nope." Twister answered. "I'm not letting you try to get away this time." The fox stood straight up and glared at him.

"Now you listen." He started, walking around the echidna. "I have been blasted out of massive cannons, forced to go over massive loops, came close to dying from repeated asthma attacks, and tossed my cookies more times than I can remember!" He was right in front of the hole as he ranted. Twister smirked as he stepped towards the kitsune.

"And if you think I'm going in that hole, you've got another thing—AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" Sam screamed as Twister pushed him in. The orange one grinned as he turned to the camera.

"How many of you folks at home didn't see that one coming?" He then jumped in. He fell down the shaft and landed right beside his teammates, who were on a train. A couple other trains sped past them.

"Took you long enough!" Otto yelled over the noise. "Let's go!" He skated ahead, followed by Sam and Twister.

The car the trio was on soon ended with a rail connecting it to another car. They grinded it and destroyed the jellyfish bot that was guarding it.

"Ok! We'll jump to the cars ahead as we destroy the bots!" Otto told them.

"Alright!" Sam answered.

"Got it!" Twister said.

Since they were at a dead-end, they switched to fly formation and flew over to a new train that was on their left. When they landed, Otto took the lead and skated towards a lone coconut pawn that was guarding some capsules. Twister destroyed it with a few well-placed punches, allowing the team to move on. They soon reached the end of the train, which had a pole.

Using Rocket Twister, the group was able to swing up the pole and to a new train that was adjacent to the one they were on. It was protected by a trio of coconut pawns. Dodging their gunfire, they were able to destroy the robots in seconds flat. Up ahead, there was no floor for the team to stand on; just walls that made a narrow passage. Across the chasm, they could see the train's engine.

"We're almost there!" Otto said to his team.

"Alright!" Twister exclaimed, punching his fists.

"Uh-oh…" Sam gulped, tightening his helmet.

The trio used Triangle Jump to cross the gap to the other side. Using the same strategy they used the first time, they were able to derail the train and make it crash into the tunnel wall. They landed on a set of rails and grinded it until they hit some springs, sending them towards a bobsled. It looked exactly the same as the one they found at the beach. It was red and had four wheels. It only had one seat, which was in the front. There was a small drill on the front as well. The sled also had a horizontal bar at the top and in the back near the ground.

"Alright! Looks like I get to drive again!" Twister cheered as they descended.

"Awesome!" Otto shouted.

"Just be careful!" Sam added.

They only had seconds to get into their proper place. Twister landed in the driver's seat, Sam grabbed on to the bar on the roof and started spinning his tails, and Otto grabbed on to the bar near the ground. The one in the domed helmet started spinning, sending the sled forward. As they traveled through this highway in the sky, Twister noticed an incoming hint ring.

"Oh great! Here comes another one of those hints!" He yelled.

"What!.?.!" Otto asked.

"I can't read a comic _now_!" Sam protested. "I gotta hold this thing with both hands!"

"Here it comes!" Twister told him as they passed through it. Nothing happened, however. "Huh?"

(Izzy: Lucky for you geeks, this is an audio clue.)

"What'd you call me!.?.!" Sam demanded as the path dipped downwards.

(Izzy: °Smirks° You heard me, dork. Anyway, if the sled takes any damage, one of you will get thrown off.)

"WHAT!.?.!" To everyone's surprise, it was Otto who said that.

(Izzy: o.O Yeah… Anyway, if Fox Brat gets tossed off, the sled can't jump, and if Rocket Dork gets knocked off, the speed will decrease.)

"Hey! Only Lars can call me that!.!.!" Otto roared, causing everything to pause and everybody to give him a funny look. The hedgehog unrolled and gave them an indignant look as he crossed his arms. "You heard me."

(Izzy: °Turns to me° Hey! I thought this wasn't a slash fic!

Me: °Shrugs° It's not, but that doesn't mean I can't make a gay joke or two.

Izzy: °Falls over°

Me: (To Team Rocket) Continue.)

Otto grabbed the bar and started rolling again as everything unpaused. The bobsled started moving again as Twister took the wheel. He guided it through a straightaway. The echidna panicked and tried to stop when he noticed that the path ended! Before it did, however, the bobsled hit a switch, causing a bridge of light to appear. The sled rolled along it as it started to curve to the right.

"Whew! That was close!" Twister said, wiping his forehead as the sled reached solid ground again. The path went down again when Sam gasped.

"Look out!"

"Huh?" Twister said, looking ahead. His eyes widened when he saw lasers on the path! "We gotta jump!"

"Hey! What's going on?.!" Otto shouted.

"How are we supposed to do that?.!" Sam asked, ignoring the hedgehog.

"Well, _you're_ responsible for jumping! Think of something!" Twister replied. "And make it fast!"

"Hey! I asked a question!" Otto yelled. Again, he was ignored.

"Oh, ohhhh!" Sam wailed, looking around. He blinked when he thought of a solution. "Here goes!" He tightened his grip on the bar as he spun his tails faster. He grunted as the sled reached the lasers. He screamed in agony as he lifted the sled high enough for it to clear the obstacle. He dropped it as soon as they passed the trap.

"Ohhh… My arms are killing me!" He groaned.

"Look alive, Sammy!" Twister yelled. Sam looked up and muttered curses when he noticed two more sets of lasers. Grunting, he lifted the sled two more times, avoiding the traps. As the sled entered a straightaway, he slumped against it and took deep breaths.

Meanwhile, Twister drove the bobsled through several capsules before the path curved sharply to the right. The path went downwards towards a set of lasers.

"Get ready, Sam!" He called. Sam looked up and screamed upon seeing the trap. He spun his tails and took flight to get ready to jump. Like earlier, he lifted the bobsled over the trap and dropped it when they cleared the lasers.

"Ugh…" He moaned as he lay on the sled again. "If it wasn't for my strength enhancer, I'd be dead right now…" He looked up and shrieked when he saw that the sled was heading towards a train!.!.! "**TWISTER!.!.!**"

"Hang on, guys!" The echidna shouted, griping the wheel. He swerved around the train as the path widened out.

"Woah!" Otto yelled, trying to hang on to the bar. He kept spinning as the sled moved through the section. Sam almost got knocked off when Twister made a sharp right turn to avoid a train. To the fox's great horror, the path ended with a couple of trains.

"We're gonna crash!.!.!"

"WHAT!.?.!" Otto shouted. Twister grunted, trying to think of something.

Luckily for the trio, the part of the path before the trains exploded, allowing them to escape by riding on a light bridge. The bridge curved to the right as it dipped deeper and deeper into the canyon. Soon, it straightened out and the bobsled entered a small tunnel. As soon as they exited, Twister and Sam saw an obstacle course littered with boxes, coconut pawns, capsules, and laser traps.

"Oh COME on!.!.!" The fox groaned.

"Just what we need! More robots!" Twister added.

They crashed through the boxes and capsules, ran over the robots, and miraculously, dodged the lasers. They soon got through the dangerous course and crashed into a fence marking the end of the road. The impact caused everybody to get knocked from the bobsled and towards a set of rails. The left and right rails were level with the furries, but the center one was placed much, much lower in the canyon.

"That's cool!" Otto said, performing a 540° spin. Twister and Sam got on the right and left rails while the hedgehog landed on the center rail.

The trio danced across the rails until they met up again. They soon hit some boosters, sending them up an incline in the rails. The rails curved to the left before ending at a platform that contained another gun tower. To their right was a door that had a small switch lying nearby. To the left was a cage. Far ahead under a ledge was a jellyfish bot. Ignoring the robot, Otto skated to the switch and flicked it. To his utter annoyance, nothing happened.

"Oh _great_! Another stupid switch puzzle!.?" He ranted.

"Me and Squid'll go ahead and see if we can find the other switches." Twister said as he and Sam skated past their leader. They went up to where the robot was stationed and destroyed it with a quick Fire Dunk.

"Hmmmmm…" Sam hummed, looking at the high up ledge. "Maybe one of the other switches is up there."

"Let's take a look."

Sam wound up his tails and took flight. He lifted Twister up to the ledge. Sure enough, there was a switch just waiting to be flicked. The echidna was dropped on it.

"Hey! I can see the last one over there!" Twister pointed at the cage, which had lowered. It seemed that the last switch was contained inside.

"I'll go activate it." Sam said, jumping down. He landed clumsily, but he didn't let it bother him as he skated towards the switch, which was across from Otto. As soon as he pressed it, the door opened. Without waiting for his teammates, the hedgehog skated inside. Sam and Twister followed.

Inside, the tower looked exactly the same as the first one the trio blasted out of. The main difference was that it was guarded by three jellyfish robots, one of which had captured Otto! The other two floated around it. The fox and echidna gave the hedgehog a smirk as they crossed his arms.

"Well, well… Whadda we have here, Squid?" Twister started.

"Looks like another case of Otto's brashness getting the better of him." Sam answered.

"Bust!.!.!" They both yelled before doubling over in laughter.

"Oh ha ha." Otto retorted sarcastically. "That was so funny I forgot to laugh. Now get me outta here!"

"I don't know…" Twister trailed off, grinning.

"Maybe we should leave him here and get the credit for beating Mr. Stimpleton." Sam added with his own grin. They both started walking towards the cannon's internal mechanism.

"WHAT!.?.!" Otto roared, pounding against the barrier generated by the robot. "Get back here!"

To his fortune, the fox and echidna stopped and turned towards the robots. Sam tossed some fake rings at them, paralyzing them. Twister skated over and punched them all into submission. The hedgehog was covered in the remains. He reached into the pile of robot parts and pulled out Otto, who was covered with oil.

"Blech…" He groaned, trying to get the black goop off him. He turned to his friends. "Were you guys _really_ going to leave me there?"

"Of course not." Sam answered.

"We were only funning." Twister added.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Otto said, walking past them with his nose held high. "I knew you guys would never be able to beat Merv. You need someone who's really fast to beat him."

"Yeah, have you seen him?" Sam remarked, causing Twister to snicker. Otto turned to them with a sneer.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Now let's go!" He jumped into the cannon's drive, followed by Twister.

"Oh man, here we go again!" Sam groaned, climbing inside.

Like earlier, the mechanism rose out of the floor and loaded the trio into one of the cannons. The gun-shaped weapon moved around until it was ready to fire.

"Hey! I think that's the base up ahead!" Twister commented.

Up ahead, past another narrow canyon, was a building that was shaped like Dr. Coconutman's head, hat and all.

"Alright! Here we come Merv!" Otto shouted confidently.

"At last, this nightmare can end." Sam said gratefully.

A few seconds passed before they were fired out of the cannon. Unlike the first trip, this one was short and uneventful. Sam was even able to stomach the ride. As soon as they passed the canyon, they saw the base, which was surrounded by gun turrets that were built into the sides of the nearby cliffs.

The animals crashed into the base. Because of the speed they were going at due to the cannon, it was destroyed as soon as they smashed into it. All that remained was a large circular platform that had capsules in the middle of it.

Hitting a spring bar, the trio got on the platform and skated up to the capsules. Twister punched them out, revealing the goal ring in all its splendor. Before Otto and Twister could do anything, Sam, crying tears of joy, grabbed it, ending the stage.

"Finally! Sweet freedom!" He cheered. "No more grinding at impossible heights! No more going up immense loop-de-loops! No more murderous robots! All we have to do is defeat Merv and we can go home!"

His celebration was brought to a halt when a familiar laughter was heard echoing in the canyon.

"That was Mr. Stimpleton!" Twister shouted.

"We're almost there!" Otto said. He skated away followed by the others.

* * *

Post-chapter Conversation

"Hey! What gives?.!" Izzy roared. "Why wasn't there a boss battle!.?"

"Believe me," I started with a shrug. "The chapter would've been way too long if I did commentary for the battle, so I'm saving it for next chapter." I faced the camera. "Anyway, Otto, Twister, and Sam are nearly at the end of their journey!"

"WHAT!.?.!" He protested. "What about—"

°WHAM!°

"Twinkle, twinkle little star…" The hedgehog groaned dizzily before fainting.

"Freaking big mouth…" I muttered before looking at the camera. "As I was saying, can the trio defeat Dr. Coconutman once and for all? Tune in next time!"

"Daddy, Daddy!"

"Huh?"

I looked up to see Iggy skating towards me. Before I can do anything to stop him, he glomped me, knocking me far back into my throne.

"I missed you so much!" The hedgehog yelled as he nuzzled against me.

"Ack!" I sputtered, getting choked by him. The display of affection continued for a few moments before Iggy got off me. "So, did ya check out those trailers?"

"Uh-huh!" The hedgehog nodded eagerly. "They were awesome!"

"For real?" I asked, brushing myself off.

"Yep!" Iggy grinned. "They were really cozy and comfortable! They had sofas and beds and TVs and fully stocked fridges! Not to mention all kinds of other cool stuff!"

"Sweet! I can't wait to take a look at 'em!" I said before waving to the camera. "Like I said, we'll see ya next week!"


	15. Coconutman Captured?

Pre-chapter Conversation

The scene opened in the Rocket Power temple. I was sitting on the bronze throne under the statues of the stars of the show. My head was propped up by my left fist. My brows were furrowed in a state of fury. I stared ahead with an angry glare while my lips were twisted in a dangerous snarl. My face was red in rage.

Meanwhile, Izzy was standing on my left with his arms crossed. He had his usual sneer on his face. Iggy was huddled against the nearby wall, playing his Game Boy Advance. He was cheering every few seconds.

Not noticing my enraged state, Izzy turned to me.

"Hey Boss."

"What?" I growled at him, clenching my teeth. The hedgehog gave me a questioning look before shrugging.

"I got a question. The other two thrones are empty, right?"

I instantly forgot my rage as I raised an eyebrow. I then turned towards the gold and silver thrones. Indeed, no one was occupying them. I turned back to my partner and nodded.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Well, not that I wanna give ya a big head, of course, but why don't ya just sit on the gold throne instead of that one?" Izzy pointed at my throne. My glare returned as I crossed my arms.

"Duh! You're _supposed_ to earn the right to sit up there!"

"Pffffft! Yeah right!" Izzy scoffed.

"Hmph! If you really think so, go ahead and sit up there!" I challenged.

"Fine! I will!" The hedgehog retorted, walking up the nearby steps towards the golden throne. Iggy, who had turned off his GBA when he heard us fighting, and I watched him as he stood in front of it. He gulped before looking down at us.

"Well…?" I said with a smirk. "Go on. Sit down."

Izzy glowered at me. "Alright!"

He backed up until he felt the ornate chair against the back of his legs. He then bent down and planted himself on the velvet cushion. He grinned defiantly as he crossed his legs.

"Ha! I told you, Boss! There's nothing to—"

Just then, alarms blared all over the temple. Due to the extremely loud echo, all three of us covered our ears.

"Hey! What's going on!.?" Izzy shouted over the noise.

"Ugh! I don't know!" I replied.

"Daddy, my ears are hurting!" Iggy yelled.

Just then, the golden throne crackled with electricity, shocking Izzy. The dark violet hedgehog screamed in pain as he felt his insides burning for quite possibly the millionth time since he was created. As his punishment continued, the area of the roof above us opened, revealing the yellow sky of this dimension.

"Huh?" Iggy and I said as we looked up in confusion.

Our unasked question was answered shortly after as the cushion of the gold throne sprang up, catapulting a still screaming Izzy out of the hole and off the mountain the temple was stationed on. The alarms stopped blaring as the roof closed. The annoying sound echoed for a few more seconds before silence overtook the entire building again. A slight screaming can still be heard though.

"Oh man… Poor Izzy…" Iggy commented as his ears drooped.

"Hmph! He deserves it if I ya ask me." I grunted, crossing my arms. The little hedgehog gave me a weirded out look.

"Did you and Izzy trade brains, Daddy? You sound just like him!" He shrank back as I glared at him.

"No, we didn't." I replied calmly, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Then why are you angry today?"

"Because of this idiotic site!" I roared. Iggy cringed as my voice bounced off the walls.

"What happened, Dad?"

"It's simple." I started. "This stupid site is going down the tubes!"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well for starters, the last chapter didn't even come out right!"

"It looked fine to me…" Iggy said.

"Well, it didn't!" I retorted. "I couldn't even use multiple punctuation marks! They always just deleted themselves until only one remained!"

"No way!" The furry gasped. "Prove it."

"Fine." I shrugged. "Scream."

He gave me a weirded out look.

"Scream?"

"Did I stutter? Yes scream!"

"But I don't have a reason to scream." Iggy said innocently, causing me to slap my forehead. I sat there thinking before an idea came to me.

"I've decided to stop writing slash fics and start writing Twister/Reggie fics."

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**" The boy shrieked, causing all the windows in the temple to shatter and the whole place to shake. As his voice echoed around the cavernous room, he started panting while giving me a look of extreme disbelief and horror.

"That'll do." I smirked, turning to the camera. "Anyway, if you notice, only _one_ exclamation point was at the end of that scream. Now see what I have to do to solve this problem." I turned to Iggy, who had regained his breath. "Ok. Scream again."

"But Daddy… I don't have a reason…" The boy whined, causing me to fall over. I muttered curses as I took my place on the bronze throne again.

"I've changed my mind. I'm gonna start writing Lars/Reggie fics instead."

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!**" Iggy screamed again, causing the building to tremble. The portraits, plaques, and statues fell and/or crumbled from his fright-filled shriek.

"As you can see, in order to show _any_ emotion, I have to put periods between each individual exclamation mark." I said to the camera. "This also goes for if I need someone to yell out a question."

"Whaddya mean you're gonna start writing Lars/Reggie fics!.?.!" Iggy roared at me. "Say it ain't so!.!.!"

"It ain't so." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Whew!" The light purple hedgehog wiped his sweaty forehead.

"Anyway, another gripe that I got with this stupid site is the fact that when I need to use sound effects, I can't use double colons any more. I have to use degree signs instead!"

Outside…

"Those stupid temple administrators!" Izzy cursed as he continued to fall down the mountain. "What kinda idiot would electrify the thrones so that those who ain't worthy get shocked!.? When I get back up there, I'm gonna—" His eyes bulged, growing to at least ten times their normal size when he noticed that he was nearing the ground at a fast rate. He cried animé tears as he looked at the camera.

"Why?"

°CRASH!.!.!°

* * *

Back inside the temple, I held up a sign that had the words "alt+0176" written on it.

"If you wanna use the degree sign to show actions or whatever, just hold down the alt button and press the numbers 0, 1, 7, and 6 in that order on your keyboard's number pad, then let go of the alt button. That'll create the symbol you need." I said to the camera as I put down the sign. "This can be used until the idiots that run this site decide to screw us over again.

"Next order of business, I also can't use multiple hyphens to signal a scene change! I'll have to use those stupid line breaks that stretch across the whole screen! Ugh! I can't stand that! It makes it look like I split my chapters into tiny little bite-sized pieces!"

"I like tiny little bite-sized pieces." Iggy said with a toothy grin. I sweatdropped at that statement.

"Yah…" I looked at the camera. "Anyway… The next gripe doesn't have to with how chapters look, but rather story summaries. I can't, for whatever reason, put a punctuation mark next to a parenthesis! The parenthesis would just delete itself from my summary! How messed up is that!.? How am I supposed to ask a question, create dramatic tension, or gloat about how I reposted a deleted fic without making my summary look like a little kid wrote it!.?"

"I dunno." Iggy replied with a shrug. I gave him an irritated look.

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh…" He blinked. "Hey, what does—"

"Later!" I shouted before turning to the camera. "As I was saying, you also can't use multiple punctuation marks in a row. The solution to this problem is exactly the same as in chapters: put periods between the punctuation marks and/or parenthesis.

"The last problem, at least for now, has to do with editing your profile. If you're like me and have gotten banned, but didn't want to have to use a pen name different from your original one, you would just simply add a one or whatever number to your old pen name in order to use it again, right? WRONG!.!.!

"Last week, I tried to update the status on the fic so that it would say that up to part two of chapter nine got posted. When I clicked the button to update my bio, what do I find?"

"Oooh, oooh! I know, I know!" Iggy shouted, raising his left hand and dancing around. "You got a cute temporary tattoo of a unicorn!"

I gave him an exasperated look.

"Why did I bring you back again?" I shook my head before turning to the camera again. "Anyway, displayed on top of the screen, in red print, were the words, 'The pen name you have selected, Prince Izzy, has been taken. Please make another selection.' Uhhhh _hello_! My pen name is Prince Izzy_1_ numbskulls! This means that you can no longer use numbers to distinguish yourself from anybody that happens to have the same pen name you wanted or had! Solution: Put a letter that wouldn't otherwise ruin your great and ultra cool pen name. As a result, my pen name is now Prince Izzy X."

"Blech!" Iggy gagged.

"I know, I know." I shrugged. "But hey, it worked for Mega Man, right? Besides, I don't want to let my pride stop me from being able to edit my profile."

"But Daddy, that addition stinks!"

"Like I said, I know, but think about it this way, I don't want to make it sound like I'm nineteen forever. Although… That _does_ sound nice…" I grinned at the thought before shaking my head. "Anyway, I think I'm done ranting. As a final note, this site needs to be a little more lenient about what characters you can or can't post. I mean, a couple of years ago, this site was an intellectual paradise. You can use whatever character you wanted in your fics and there were hardly any complaints. At least I think so, anyway. I think you were also allowed to use _color_ in a fic (I think I recall seeing a fic that used colors…)!

"And then, because of this stupid war or whatever against those that prefer to use script format, nobody can make their fics look exactly like how they want them to look! Depending on the person who posts, their fic or fics could become totally unreadable! You can't even use URLs or put in email addresses! God forbid you need to put either one in your story in order to advance the plot (like in Rocketmon)! You'd be stuck or you'd have to split up the addresses, which would make them even _harder_ to read (or use, depending on the situation)!

"I'm kinda surprised a lot of people haven't stopped using this site to post stories yet. I mean, _I_ would in a heartbeat if I knew of a different site that was just as popular and wasn't as tough about posting, or I'd use my _own_ site to display my stories (if it was popular enough).

"I'll conclude with these final words. When this site first started being stupid about script format fics, I read that their reason was so that people can post more professional-looking stories. It's as if they think fic writing is a _profession_! Here's a question for you: If fic writing _is_ a profession, why haven't you gotten paid yet?

"Whew! I'm tired out." I said, slumping into my throne. "Iggy, tell the readers was this chapter will be about, will ya?"

"Alright, Dad." Iggy said, clearing his throat as he turned to the camera. "This chapter's gonna have the last battle between Team Rocket and Dr. Coconutman! Can Otto, Twister, and Sammy-Sam beat Mr. Stimpleton and save the world? Just read!" He waved as the camera whited out.

(A/N: Reviewer responses will be at the end of the chapter.)

* * *

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Ten

Coconutman Captured?

Otto, Twister, and Sam were skating across a bridge that was suspended above the Grand Canyon. On either side of them were rock formations that had guns embedded in them. In the darkening sky, they were able to see cannons placed atop the various rock formations. Like the cannons the group encountered earlier, they were shaped like handguns.

"With all these weapons out in the open, I wonder why anybody didn't call the military." Sam pointed out.

"Maybe he cloaked everything with some kind of device!" Twister shouted. He then added frantically, "Or maybe he paid everyone to be quiet about it! Or maybe it's a cover up by the military! Or maybe it's aliens!.!.! AHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!"

"Or maybe everybody's just stupid." Otto muttered as his best friend rambled on and on.

A few moments of skating passed before propellers were heard spinning throughout the canyon. The trio stopped and Otto and Sam looked around. Twister, however, was still babbling.

"Ok! I think I got it! It must be robot alien chickens from the Egg Planet that hypnotized the president and—"

"SHUT UP, TWISTER!.!.!" The other two roared.

"What is that?.!" Sam yelled over the noise.

"Trouble." Otto said, looking over his shoulder. The others looked behind them and gasped. A massive machine was flying towards them. The trio ducked as it flew over their heads. They stood up and gasped at the sight of it.

The machine had three layers. The bottom part consisted of a grayish platform. Several areas of it were yellow. Due to the setting sun, it looked like it was made of gold. An engine was on the left and right sides of it. The engines were primarily propellers. On each of the two wings were two lasers. Four coconut pawns that were planted in the platform were in charge of guns. The front of the platform sported a cannon.

The midsection was just a yellowish blimp. On each side of it was Dr. Coconutman's insignia; a red outline of a face that was wearing a hat and glasses. Also on each side were three cannons identical to the one on the nose of the bottom section. On the blimp's nose was a giant propeller.

Finally, the top area consisted of Dr. Coconutman's Coconut Hawk. Like at the battle at the beach, a pair of coconut pawns was placed on its talons. The main difference was that its wings were folded up. And at the helm sat the doctor himself.

"Woah!" Twister said in awe. "That thing's loaded with the Mervinator's weapons!"

"How are we supposed to beat _that_!.?.!" Sam shouted frightfully.

"I don't know, but he's going down!" Otto answered, skating towards the huge machine with intense rage. The others followed. "You hear me, Merv!.? Time to beat you once and for all!"

Dr. Coconutman only had one thing to say to such a bold proclamation.

"Ready all cannons! Open fire!.!.!"

**BOSS BATTLE!**

**COCONUT ALBATROSS**

As the battle began, the Coconut Albatross backed away. The coconut pawns on the lowest section started firing at our heroes. The lasers mounted on the wings fired energy rings identical to those fired by turtle bots. The cannon on the nose of the platform fired giant cannonballs at them.

"Woah!" Sam yelped, barely dodging the bullets.

"Is he crazy!.?.!" Twister exclaimed, sliding under the cannonball.

"You're not gonna beat _me_!.!.!" Otto roared, jumping through an energy ring while performing an Ollie. There's no way a bunch of lousy robots was gonna stop _him_ from saving every skate park in the world!

He landed and continued skating, followed by his team who was struggling to catch up. Up ahead, a bunch of coconut pawns armed with lances charged at the trio.

"We don't have time for this!" The hedgehog shouted, jumping over them.

While he continued his pursuit, Sam and Twister had to fight the robots.

"Hey! Get outta the way!" Twister yelled, punching out the robots.

With them out of the way, the fox and echidna raced to catch up to Otto.

"The least…he could do…is wait up…!" Sam panted, spinning his tails.

"No kidding!" Twister agreed, increasing his speed. "C'mon, Squid!"

Up ahead, Otto was struggling just to reach the blimp, which was steadily getting away.

"Ugh! Stand still already!" He cursed, dodging a stream of bullets.

He got his wish, in a sense, when the Coconut Albatross charged straight at him.

"Heh. Perfect!"

He jumped at the right wing and made to use his homing attack. Unfortunately, the lasers fired at the exact same moment.

"OWWWWWWWWW!.!.!.!.!.!.!"

He gritted his teeth as the extreme heat of the energy rings tossed him backwards. Before he landed, he flipped and pointed his feet down. As soon as he touched down, he took off again. Because he was thrown back, Sam and Twister were able to catch up.

"It's about time!" The hedgehog shouted, glancing over his shoulder. "Where were you guys?.!"

"Fighting those robots you left us to take care of!" Sam yelled.

They all jumped to avoid a cannonball.

"Forget about it! There's gotta be a way to stop that thing long enough to attack!"

"Woah! The road's ending!" Twister warned.

Up ahead, the bridge spilt into two paths. A set of blue light rails connected the path, which went to the left while a new bridge began on the right. A circular rail switch was nearby.

"Get ready to grind!" Otto ordered.

Jumping through another energy ring, the trio landed on the rails and danced across them as quickly as possible. When they reached the other side, they moved their legs as fast as they can to catch up to the Coconut Albatross. A few seconds passed before they hit a boost pad, sending them towards a row of rings. Using his light speed dash, Otto carried his team through them.

"Watch out!" Sam yelled.

Up ahead was a fence made out of lasers.

"Jump!" Twister called.

As the trio cleared the lethal hurdle, Coconutman hovered alongside them. He fired cannonballs out of the guns mounted on the midsection of his machine.

"Now's our chance!" Otto shouted.

Dodging the cannonballs, the trio jumped over the chasm and used their homing attack against the lowest section of the machine. Otto and Twister hit the lasers on the left wing while Sam concentrated on one of the coconut pawns. They managed to destroy both lasers and one of the robots before landing back on the bridge. The blimp started fleeing again.

"I got it!" Sam yelled as they started skating.

"What?" Otto asked.

"We can beat that thing if we attack each of the weapons first!"

"Ohhhh…! I get it! So he won't be able to fight back, right?" Twister said.

"Right!" Sam answered.

"Sounds good," Otto confirmed. "But we gotta catch up first!"

They skated through another boost pad and row of rings before jumping over a laser fence. They were approaching a set of normal rails when they noticed an item bubble containing a red power core. It was right in front of the middle rail.

"Level-up!" The hedgehog exclaimed when he grabbed it.

The trio jumped on the rails and grinded them. Halfway through the trip, they noticed a couple of rhino bots rolling towards them. They were on Sam and Twister's rails.

"Oh no ya don't!" Otto jumped and destroyed them both with a homing attack. Two yellow and orange power cores popped out of the bots.

"Level-up!" The fox and echidna exclaimed as they grabbed the cores.

"Thanks, Ottoman!" Twister said.

"No prob! Now let's go!" Otto replied, landing on his rail.

They got to the other side of the rails where the bridge continued. As they skated, they fought through two rows of coconut pawns. They managed to destroy the robots, but got blasted by Coconutman's energy rings, causing them to lose their normal rings.

"Aw man!" Twister groaned at the loss.

"Leave 'em!" Otto ordered, skating onward.

They didn't seem to be getting any closer. For next minute or so, the trio dodged projectile after projectile. Since they destroyed a couple of the lasers, they had less energy rings to worry about, but there were still the bullets from the coconut pawns' guns and the cannonballs to contend with.

"This is nuts!" Sam shouted as they darted around one of the metal balls.

"We gotta catch up!" Twister added.

"I know, I know!" Otto groaned irritably. "But how!.?"

Just then, they hit a hint ring, causing a piece of paper to appear in the hedgehog's hands.

"You gotta be kidding!" He rolled his eyes as he handed it to Sam. "Here!" The fox blinked as he took it.

"You expect me to read one of these things _now_!.?.!" He protested as they jumped over a stream of gunfire.

"C'mon Squid!" Twister said, taking one of Sam's hands. He pulled the fox forward as he skated. To help him out, Sam spun his tails as he used his free hand to read the hint.

On the comic were four panels. The first panel showed the trio (who was drawn with crayons) chasing after the Coconut Albatross (which was also drawn with crayon). The furries had angry expressions on their faces. Also, steam was coming out of their ears. The second panel depicted Otto rolling into a ball while Sam had his foot drawn back. The third panel had Sam kicking the ball forward. Between the third and fourth panels was the word "or." The last panel showed Twister punching the ball. In both panels, lines were behind Otto, showing the speed he was going at. Under the comic were the words "Rocket Accel."

"Otto," Sam started, tossing the comic as he began skating again. "Roll into a ball!"

"Huh?" The hedgehog asked, looking back with a confused look.

"Just do it!"

"Alright Squid!" Otto said, doing as he was told. Sam hovered a few inches off the ground as he brought his right foot back.

Before the leader can lose speed, the fox kicked him ahead. The hedgehog crackled with a small amount of electricity, causing some incoming coconut pawns to go flying off the bridge. Although he wasn't going as fast as when he uses the light speed dash, Sam and Twister were pulled along. Otto unrolled and went back to skating as he turned to Sam.

"What was that about?"

"It's a technique called 'Rocket Accel.' We can use it to catch up!" The fox answered. Otto grinned.

"Alright then! Let's do it!" He rolled into a ball again.

Using Rocket Accel, the trio was able to catch up to the Coconut Albatross. They also used their newfound attack to avoid the projectiles and coconut pawns that littered the path. After going through two more sections that had laser fences, they were on a bigger part of the bridge that had many rows of rings. Otto was also fully leveled-up. Sam's watch started beeping, signaling that their Team Blast meter was fully charged.

"Yes! We just gotta get close to him!" Twister said to his teammates as they jumped through an energy ring. Otto used the light speed dash to get through row after row of rings.

"We're almost there!" He said through gritted teeth as they approached another row. "Yes! Get ready you guys!"

They blasted through the rings until they passed Dr. Coconutman.

"Oh no!" Merv shouted.

"Now Otto!" Sam yelled.

"Right!" Otto nodded as he and the others skidded to a stop. They turned towards the hovercraft. "Team Blast: Rocket Overdrive!"

Twister grabbed Sam's legs as the fox grabbed Otto's. The echidna then spun them around and around before tossing Sam towards the Coconut Albatross. Sam let go out of Otto and brought his right foot crashing into him. The hedgehog glowed with a bright energy as he rolled into a ball. A massive amount of electricity crackled around him as he spun around the lower section of the machine. He bounced all over it, destroying the coconut pawns, the remaining lasers, and ultimately, the whole platform itself.

"NO!.!.!" Merv roared as the platform fell off the blimp in a huge explosion. "You'll pay for that!.!.!" Otto bounced back onto the bridge as the doctor flew away.

"One down!" Twister cheered as they resumed the chase.

"Now we gotta get the body!" Otto said.

"Hurry and use the light speed attack before he gets too far!" Sam advised.

"Got it!"

The hedgehog skated up to the blimp and jumped. Using his light speed attack, he was able to ricochet off it repeatedly. Before he bounced back on the bridge, he managed to destroy two of the cannons.

"Ugh! Blasted pests!" Dr. Coconutman cursed, flying over a gap in the bridge. Luckily for our heroes, there were a set of rails and two jump pads that led out of that area.

"Time to bust some air!" Otto exclaimed, skating towards one of the jump pads.

All three of them hit the pad and were sent into the air over the blimp. Merv managed to back out of the way before they can attack him. Unfortunately, doing so allowed the team to hit a nearby balloon, which gave Sam his second level-up.

"Alright!" He cheered as he felt the energy surging through him.

"I've had enough of this!.!.!" Otto shouted, rolling into a ball.

While Sam and Twister landed on the bridge and followed him, he repeatedly rammed into the blimp's propeller. He must've crashed into it about twenty times before it finally succumbed to its damage and started blowing up.

"Crap! Retreat!" Coconutman ordered as he detached the Coconut Hawk and flew away. As Otto landed and skated up to his buddies, the mad doctor fired at them.

"Oh man! He's getting away!" Twister pointed out as they dodged the bullets.

"Not if I can help it!.!.!" Otto bellowed, skating at full speed.

"Wow! He seems determined, huh?" Sam said to the echidna.

"No duh, Sammy! C'mon!" Twister replied, moving faster.

The chase continued for quite some time. The team dodged the Coconut Hawk's bullets and fought through the dozens of coconut pawns stationed on the bridge. They grinded through about fifty rails and collected about a hundred rings using the light speed dash. By the time they caught up to Coconutman, their Team Blast meter had refilled. Team Rocket used their ultimate attack on the widest part of the bridge, defeating the evil scientist.

"I'll destroy you hooligans yet!.!.!" He roared as he escaped from the exploding Coconut Hawk in his tiny hovercraft. The metal bird crashed onto the bridge as the villain flew off.

"You're not getting away this time!" Otto yelled at his enemy before turning to Sam and Twister. "Let's do it guys!"

"Right!" They said, nodding.

Sam flew high above the bridge as Twister held his hands out in front of himself to provide a foothold for Otto. The hedgehog jumped into the echidna's hands. The orange one then used the power of his flame ring to toss the red one high into the air. As he flew towards the yellow one, Otto rolled into a ball. Flames engulfed him as he approached the fox. When he was level with him, Sam kicked him towards the fleeing Dr. Coconutman. Otto was wrapped in electricity as he rocketed through the air like a heat-seeking missile. He crashed into Merv's hovercraft, causing a great explosion.

* * *

"Wow! He did it!" Ray said in astonishment.

He and the other adults in the Shack had watched the battle. It seemed that the camera crew that was at the Grand Canyon was able to catch up to the team and filmed the entire fight. Granted, the camera was too far to actually pick out the important details, but you had to be blind to not know what happened! Paula had fainted within the first five minutes of the fight while Raoul, blue from his wife's choking (she had her hands clasped tightly around his neck during the skirmish) was lying besides her.

Now the camera was focused high above the canyon on the dark cloud that was floating where the mad doctor was seen seconds earlier.

"I hope he's alright." Noelani said, holding her hands in prayer for the ruby hedgehog.

"Who cares about _him_!.?.!" Sandy shouted, clenching her fist at the cat. "I want my little Maurice to come home!" Everybody else sweatdropped before turning back to the TV.

* * *

"Oh man…" Sam said worriedly. "He still hasn't come out of there…"

"Don't worry! He'll make it!" Twister reassured, though there was heavy doubt in his voice.

Minutes seemed like hours as they waited for any sign of their comrade. The black cloud of smoke continued billowing as they waited. Soon, the smoke cleared, revealing nothing but air…

"Huh!.?.!" Both boys exclaimed in shock. "Where is he!.?"

"He…he didn't make it…" Sam trailed off, lowering his head.

"No…" Tears came to Twister's eyes at the thought that his best friend in the entire world, his best bro, was gone. He knelled and looked at the sky in disbelief. "NNNNNOOOOOOOO!.!.!.!.!.!.!" He buried his face as he let it all out.

"Man! What's with the water works!.?" A familiar voice (a voice that belonged to someone that was supposed to be dead!) yelled.

"Huh?.!" Sam and Twister turned and grinned at who was standing there.

It was Otto, who was holding an unconscious Dr. Coconutman by the back of his lab coat.

"OTTOMAN, YOU'RE ALIVE!.!.!" Twister screamed, running over to him. Before the hedgehog could stop him, the taller boy enveloped him in a tight embrace. "I thought you were gone forever!" Otto's face started turning blue as Twister rubbed his tearstained face against him.

"Twist…!" He sputtered somewhat freaked out. "Let go already!.!.!"

Reluctantly, the echidna let go. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as the shorter mammal tried to catch his breath.

"Sorry about that, O-man, but you're alive!.!.!" He cheered.

"Yeah…" Otto muttered with a cough.

"How'd you make it out?" Sam asked, walking over to them. It was clear that he was resisting the strong urge to hug his leader too.

"I just grabbed him—" Otto held up Dr. Coconutman. "—And bounced away before that thing exploded."

"Well, at least it's over…" The fox sighed.

"And as for you!" The hedgehog started, tossing Merv at the burning remains of the Coconut Hawk. The man landed on his back. "Tell us where you put that secret weapon of yours NOW!.!.!"

But to the surprise and immense disappointment of the trio, Dr. Coconutman didn't answer. Instead, a plastic head came out of his chest like the body was a jack-in-the-box. The head looked just like Mr. Stimpleton's.

"What the hell!.?.!" The furries yelled in a mixture of shock and extreme fright.

"_Muahahahaha_" Coconutman's voice was heard from the body. "_You fools have been tricked!_"

"It's a fake!.?" Twister gasped.

"Duh! I think we noticed that already!" Otto shouted at him.

"_Watch from these canyons as I conquer the world with my air fleet, and I'd like to see you try to stop me this time! Ahahahahaha!.!.!_"

The trio gazed to the left of the wreckage and felt their eyes go as wide as possible. Floating in the air were hundreds, possibly thousands, of airships. They were loaded with weapons that can destroy an entire city in the blink of an eye. Cannons ten times bigger than the ones the animals launched out of filled the ships. Seemingly a million robots flew alongside the ship.

Perhaps the strangest part of the entire fleet was that every single solitary aircraft was built to look like an aquatic animal. From the red shark cruisers to the blue swordfish-like battleships, it was like looking at an aquarium in the sky. Purple sting ray ships bigger than the battleships also swam among the ocean of clouds. If the furries weren't intimidated by the battleships and carriers, they certainly were when they saw the flagship! Looming behind all the sharks, swordfish, and sting rays was the grand daddy of all war machines!

"I-It's a giant wh-whale…" Twister stuttered, feeling his legs growing weak. Otto and Sam were too stunned to mock him for stating the obvious.

A terrifying, metallic blue whale swam in the back of the fleet. To be perfectly honest, it was bigger than any blue whale the trio has seen on any documentary. Its colossal shadow covered what was left of the sun, creating a perpetual nightfall as it flew. It was impossible for the team to fathom the length of it. It looked to be the size of a small planet, and even _that_ was putting it mildly! If that thing was the size of a small planet from far away, imagine seeing it up close! It's surprising it doesn't have a moon revolving around it!

The trio stood stock frozen, gaping at the humongous fleet for what seemed like hours before finally collecting themselves.

"A-A fleet…" Twister was the first to speak. "An _air_ fleet… Th-that's his ultimate weapon…"

Otto, however, was less afraid and more livid at the fact that he was tricked so easily.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!" He roared, slamming his helmet on the ground. "I don't believe this! The whole time, we've been chasing some stupid robot! We gave him enough time to get everything ready!.!.!" He continued ranting as he stomped the ground in fury.

"Weird… I was kinda expecting a giant laser capable of destroying the world or something like that." Sam said, holding his chin in thought.

"I don't care how long it takes," Otto started, putting his helmet back on. "I'm not going to let him destroy the skate parks of the world if my name isn't Otto Rocket! C'mon!" And he skated away from the wreck, ready to continue the quest.

"Hey! Wait up, Ottoman!" Twister yelled, following him.

Instead of going after them, Sam stayed and examined the fake Coconutman, which seemed to be oozing some kind of liquid. It wasn't oil or anything of the sort. It was more like melted silver.

"Strange… This doesn't seem like one of Merv's robots…" He trailed off before turning to see that his comrades had already left. "Hey! Wait for me!.!.!" He shouted, spinning his tails as he skated.

Not long after they left the area, Team Lars entered the scene of the fight that transpired only moments ago. They walked up to the wreckage with utmost confusion on their faces, or at least _Reggie's_ had confusion etched on it.

"Woah! What happened?.!" She exclaimed in surprise. Lars turned to her with a look that just _screamed_, "Whaddya think, ya twit!.?.!"

"Duh! Rocket Dork and those other two trashed one of Stimpledork's machines!" He shouted. The bat gave him a shocked look. There's _no_ way her little brother and friends were out here! Then again… Everything _was_ pretty much destroyed when they arrived…

While Reggie was contemplating this, Pi looked over at the "fallen" Coconutman. He shook his fist at the copy.

"_Searching for Coconutman target…_" He droned.

Meanwhile, Lars was examining the downed Coconut Hawk when he gasped.

"What the hell is _this_!.?.!" He roared as if he was slapped in the face. Pi and Reggie turned to see what he was going on about. What they saw shocked them (or at least Reggie).

Lars was standing over a robot, or at least _half_ of one. It was shooting sparks out of its midsection, but that wasn't even half of it! The bot from head to where the body ended looked exactly like Lars! The hat, the red star-shaped patch of hair on his chest, _everything_ looked like the violet hedgehog! Needless to say, he was outraged. He was beyond livid at the fact that Dr. Coconutman would have the _audacity_ to make some kind of robot copy of him!

"Grrrr… That cheap little…ARGH!.!.!"

He was at a loss for words. Nothing he said would be able to right this terrible wrong. With a mighty roar, he grabbed the robot, swung it around three times, and tossed it over the bridge and into the depths of the canyon. A small explosion was heard soon after.

"Lars…?" Reggie tried, holding a hand towards him. She was silenced when he turned to her with a cold glare and an equally frigid snarl.

"Let's go!" He simply shouted before skating off. The bat activated her air skates and followed while Pi activated his rockets and floated after them.

Soon, Team Rodriguez skated into the scene, ready to battle Dr. Coconutman. Unfortunately for them, all they found was a downed hovercraft and an unconscious Coconutman.

"There you are!" Clio yelled upon seeing the body. "Where's my darling Otto at, you creep!.?.!" She snatched it up and immediately began choking it. It wasn't until Keoni pointed out that a laughing head was coming out of the body before the hedgehog dropped it.

"No fair!" She protested. "It's just a cheap copy!" She stomped the ground as the cat looked all over the site.

"Froggy-brah!" He called, only to have his voice bounce off the canyon walls. "Let's go home…" He looked down sadly.

"What are _you_ crying about _now_?" Mackenzie grumbled to her chao, who was crying silently.

"It's Chocola-chao…" Cheese squeaked softly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Her eyes widened as she held her pet up to her face. "Wait a minute! You can say something other than 'Chao!.?.!'"

"Chao, chao?" It tilted its head in confusion as its ball became a question mark.

Mackenzie fell over as Clio gasped in realization.

"It's a chao-napping!"

"Huh?" Keoni asked, turning to her. "Are you saying this Stimpleton brah was the one who took Froggy and Chocola?"

"Exactly!" She answered, nodding.

Mackenzie shot up and glared at the older kids.

"First you said that lame-o was the one who did it," She started, referring to Otto. "And now you're saying _this_ dork did it!.?.! Make up your mind already!"

"Yeah." Keoni agreed. "Are you sure this time, cuz?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Clio huffed. "Mr. Stimpleton kidnapped Froggy and Chocola, and he's trying to get my man!" The others sweatdropped before sighing. They were used to her banter by now.

"C'mon! We can't be too far behind them!" The hedgehog said, skating onward. The others followed after her.

Later, as just a tiny sliver of sun remained in the sky, Team Sherlock approached the scene of the battle. Trent gave a toothy grin at the wreckage, happy that the doctor finally got what was coming to him. Unlike Reggie, they accepted the fact that it was Mr. Stimpleton when they saw his face on the slots at Casino Park.

"Good job, mates!" He said to his colleagues.

"What are you talking about?" Eddie asked, raising his mask with a wary look.

"Why we defeated Dr. Coconutman, of course!" The crocodile answered, trying to take the credit for whoever destroyed the machine.

"But we didn't do anything." Little Scottie pointed out innocently. "We just got here!" He was silenced when the oldest member of the group put his huge hand to his mouth.

"Ahhh, but we _did_." Trent said, winking. "Or at least that's what the press will think." The others sweatdropped.

"_There's_ a new one." Eddie started. "I never would've taken you for a glory hog." He held his chin for a moment. "Then again, you _did_ agree to this case when our mysterious client buttered you up!"

°WHAM!°

The chameleon muttered curses to himself as he tended to the huge lump now protruding from his head. Not even his helmet was a match for the bigger kid's massive fist.

"Now then, we're gonna tell the news people that _we_ were the ones who took him down, GOT IT!.?.!" Trent bared his sharp teeth to prove his point. The others gulped and nervously nodded. "_Good…_" He growled.

"Hey! It looks like it's just a fake Coconutman!" Scottie said, hovering near the body.

"WHAT!.?.!" The croc exclaimed, stomping over to the bee. Sure enough, the "doctor's" recorded laughing was still playing.

"Well, so much for getting the credit, huh?" Eddie teased with a coy smirk. Trent gulped as he tried to think of a way to save face. He snapped his fingers when a solution came to him.

"No problem." He started slyly. "We'll just tell 'em that he was a fake all along and that we're on the case!" He gave a mighty laugh while the others looked at him, wondering why they decided to associate themselves with this older, scalier, and more down under version of Otto.

"_Of course it was a fake!_" The electronic voice of the client was heard shouting.

"Huh?" Trent questioned, pulling out the detectives' only contact between them and their customer. The client cleared his throat.

"_Listen carefully! There's a forest east of the Grand Canyon. Go there immediately!_"

"Understood." Trent acknowledged, putting the radio away. "Let go, mates." He started skating, followed by Eddie and Little Scottie. The bee flew ahead of the reptiles and faced them.

"The client seems to a lot about that bad man!" He commented.

"He must be a government agent." Eddie said, nodding in agreement. "Or maybe even a relative."

"Maybe it's his wife!"

"His wife!.?.!" Trent shouted. "Don't be dumb! There's no way it can be _her_! The client's voice is male!"

"You never know." The smaller lizard said with a shrug. "She could be using a voice changer."

"Hmmmm… You got a point, mate." The bigger one nodded. "Ya know, I've been having my suspicions about the client's _real_ identity too." He looked back at the body. "Still… It's best to just follow his instructions for now. We'll ask questions if, and when, he decides to show himself." He faced ahead and skated off with his teammates.

As the moon and stars finally prevailed over the sun and plunged the world into darkness, a great evil was emerging.

The copy of Dr. Coconutman turned into the thick, silvery liquid that was leaking from it. The body wavered as it melted. The reflective goop then began to take a whole other form. In the light of the full moon, a figure appeared where "Mr. Stimpleton" was lying. It was barely illuminated by the moon's light and the fires still emitting from the Coconut Hawk.

It took the form of a hedgehog. It was taller than Lars, but only by a few inches. The silver soon disappeared and was replaced by a deep scarlet. The figure had a white streak in the middle of its forehead. The head quills were arranged like dreadlocks, only longer and stiffer than Otto's. They were at least twice as long. A green ring was around the forehead. Green-tinted sunglasses were wielded onto the face. Despite the tint, the eyes, which were permanently fixed in an icy glare, were glowing a blood red. Its nose was a single spike and it had no mouth. The area where the mouth should be was a steel gray. At the ends were spikes. Its arms were connected to its body by silver shoulder pads that stretched out a few inches. The arms were built to make it look like it was wearing oversized sleeves. They failed to cover up its razor sharp claws.

The body consisted of a yellow turbine engine, which blended in with the red. A spiked belt was around the waist. Connected to it was a dark brown cape that only went down behind the legs. Like the arms, the legs were made to look like the robot was wearing baggy pants. Finally, it had air skates for feet. Unlike the ones Otto and the others had, they were longer and had a pointed toe.

"_All life form data…_" The robot clenched a fist as it spoke with a cold, lifeless voice that sounded exactly like Otto's. "_Successfully copied._"

* * *

Post-chapter Conversation

"Well, there ya have it folks!" I said from my throne. "We're not quite done with this adventure just yet! Can Team Rocket find the _real_ Dr. Coconutman before it's too late? What's with that half of a robot Team Lars found? Will Team Rodriguez find Otto, Froggy, and Chocola? Can Team Sherlock figure out the identity of their client? And who was that red robot and why was he imitating Dr. Coconutman? Find out next time!"

°SLAM!°

"Huh?" Iggy and I faced the temple's front doors.

A severely irate Izzy had just stepped inside. He was covered in bandages, both his eyes were black, and some of his quills were broken or barely staying on his head. His left arm was in a sling and his right leg was in a cast. Using the crutches under his arms, he limped through the immense hall.

"Bro!" Iggy cried with concern as he and I ran up to him. "Are you ok!.? What happened to you!.?"

"What happened?.! You know perfectly well what happened!" The older brother roared. "I got tossed off the damn mountain because of that idiotic rule those stupid administrators set up! Ow!.!.!" He yelped as he recoiled in pain.

"Hey, I _tried_ to warn ya." I said with a shrug. Izzy glared at me.

"When I get out of traction, you're first on my list." He snarled. I stuck my tongue out at him before turning to the camera.

"Anyway, it's time to answer the reviews for the last chapter!" I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper which had the reviews for this week on it. "First to Warior, pffffft!.!.! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.! Aw man! That's hilarious! Those aliens got the ultimate humiliation!" I laughed a bit more before catching my breath. I then read the rest of the review. "Ohhhhh… So _that's_ what's in the Pit… Eeesh. I'd hate to have to face something like that."

"Heh, how sweet would it be to toss a certain blond so-and-so in there…" Izzy sighed dreamily. Iggy and I rolled our eyes.

"Keep dreaming, bro." The younger hedgehog remarked.

"Anyway, onto the next review!" I said, reading over the sheet again. I then looked up at the camera. "To Mythica, erm… That's a good question. It might be fun to put Alice in this thing, but I already got enough to worry about with these two." I flicked a thumb at the two hedgehogs. "Besides, I just took Sonic's emeralds from his dimension, that's all."

"Aw man!" Izzy sulked. "That'd be so cool if I can see my dear, sweet, kissable Alice again."

"Hey, I thought you were in love with that Pineapple boy." Iggy commented.

°WHAM!°

"Who told you, ya little—!" Izzy cleared his throat as he put down the crutch he just used to whack his brother. "I mean, where would you get a crazy idea like that?.! Alice is the only one for me." He turned to me with a dangerous glare. "And then YOU had to take her away from me!.!.!"

"Hey! I told you! The Dimension Hopper rules state that we can't take anybody from a dimension with us!" I defended. Iggy gasped at that.

"D-d-d-does that mean you and Izzy will leave me if you ever go to another dimension, Daddy?" He asked, tears welling up in his eyes. I stuttered trying to think of what to say.

"Ummm… Errr… Uhhh… Don't put me on the spot like that!" I finally said before looking at the review again. "Anyway, for the last time, You-know-who is gonna be a brand-spanking-new fan character. Adrian—"

Izzy shuddered at the name. I rolled my eyes.

"—is not him. I repeat: You-know-who is a _new_ fan character. Adrian is not in this story."

"Thank God." My partner said with another shudder.

"Ugh… Anyway, I've never played the Harvest Moon games. Are those baskets expensive?" I then looked at the final review. "To Mike, eh, no prob. Happy to oblige. Hope everything's going smoothly over at Hawaii." I blinked and smirked before turning to Izzy. "Hey, I got a message for you."

"Ya do?" The hedgehog blinked. "What is it?"

I looked at the review. "Well, according to this, your 'delectable pineapple' says 'hi.'"

Izzy gaped at me before sighing lovingly.

"He said hi…" He swooned. "He's got such a way with words…"

Iggy and I gave him sly smirks.

°SUPER WHAM!°

"For the love of—! Can we _please_ get off the subject of my crappy love life and that blasted fic!.?.!" Izzy roared, standing over Iggy and I with one of his crutches held high over his head. We were huddled close together, nursing our newest lumps. "That was the _worst_ thing you've ever written! Even worse than that Pokémon fic!"

"Aw give me a break!" I shouted as I stood up. "You _know_ that Pokémon fic was my very first one! Of _course_ it was my worst one!"

"Hey, that'd be pretty cool." Iggy spoke up. Izzy and I gave him curious looks.

"Whaddya mean?" We both asked.

"Well, what if this Alice person, that Adrian guy, and Mr. Pineapple Boy fought each other for him?" Iggy pointed at Izzy.

"Yeah right! Those three wouldn't fight for me!" The older hedgehog scoffed.

"But still, it'd be the fight of the century!" The younger one cheered.

"Forget it, twerp. It ain't gonna happen."

"Daddy!"

"Give him a break, Izzy." I said.

"Don't tell me you're taking _his_ side!" The crippled hedgehog shouted. "Keoni would get killed if all three of them fought!"

"Whaddya mean?" Iggy asked.

"Duh! Alice has an infinite amount of guns in her purse and Adrian's a fire element wizard! Keoni's just a normal kid! He couldn't last ten seconds in a fight!"

"Well, of course I'd give him something to fight them with." I said, shrugging. "Maybe Keoni could use your air skates."

Izzy swooned at that.

"Keoni? Wearing _my_ air skates? Ohhhh…" He fainted, causing Iggy and I to sweatdrop.

"He is _so_ in denial." The light purple hedgehog said, holding his forehead.

"No kidding." I sighed. "Anyway, back to the review!" I turned to the camera. "Oh yeah, Mike! Sam definitely had to have lost plenty of weight after _that_ chapter! Thanks to all of his vomiting, he's so slim, he's on the same level of attractivity as Otto and Twister."

"_There's_ a nice thought…" Iggy grinned, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah… Anyway, I guess Sam just hangs out with Otto, Twister, and Reggie to try to fit in." I shrugged. I then raised an eyebrow. "'Masochist?' I've heard that word before but I have no clue what that means…" I snapped my fingers, causing a dictionary to appear in my hands. I then thumbed through it.

"Let's see… Aha! A masochist is…" I sweatdropped at the definition. "Uhhhh… Heh, heh…" I coughed as I sweatdropped. "Ummm… Yeah, I guess that kinda describes Sam alright! A real glutton for punishment!" I chuckled nervously.

"Gee, I always thought he was just a plain old glutton." Izzy said, sitting up with a smirk.

"You know, it was _so_ much better when you were in a love struck daze." Iggy said exasperatedly.

"Oy…" I rolled my eyes before turning to the camera. "To end things off, heh, I guess Sam and Twister might be a tad closer than already suggested." I grinned before waving at the camera. "Thanks a lot for the reviews, you guys! We'll see ya in the next chapter!"

(Note: This was the last chapter I fully wrote, so it may be a long time before the next update. In the meantime, check out The Elusive Treasure! It's collaboration fic that's being written by me, Silent Whisper, mike2000, and salsipuedues!)


	16. Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs! Pt 1, 1

Pre-chapter Conversation

The scene opened with an aerial view of the No Worries Pictures studios, located at the outskirts of the Rocket Power fan village. Several buildings, a water tower, and some workshops were surrounded by a tall wall that guaranteed the privacy of the compound. The majority of the buildings and the water tower had a red M on them. Soon, the camera zoomed in on the largest building of them all—Studio A. From outside, you can hear the deafening roars of a crowd.

The camera then panned to a view of the interior. The audience was sitting in easy chairs that were arranged as if it was a stadium for a sporting event. Several cameras were seen installed in strategic locations. Some light rigs and background curtains painted to resemble hillside Ocean Shores were seen.

Onstage, the setting was just like a talk show. A desk was at the left corner, along with a sofa and some armchairs. At the right corner was a band that was currently playing a rendition of the Sonic Adventure 1 version of "It Doesn't Matter," Sonic's theme. Just as the band was wrapping up, Izzy, Iggy, and I entered from stage right. The audience went crazy as we waved at them. The band played a few quick riffs as we sat in our designated places. I sat at the desk while the Yaoi Brothers sat on the couch. Iggy was the closest to me while Izzy sat on the far end.

"Hey everybody!" I addressed the crowd, who finally calmed down. "We're filming live from mike2000's studios while he's filming his latest fic in Hawaii!"

The audience applauded for a few moments before quieting down.

"Wow! I can't believe how nice everybody's been to us!" Iggy yelled cheerfully.

"Hmph, I'll admit, things have been pretty cool since we got here." Izzy added with a nod.

"Yeah, the workers here have been very kind to us." I agreed. "They even said that it was an honor to work with us. It's like we've been getting the royal treatment or something! Not to mention, the facilities here are great! There are tons of stuff here that we don't have back home." I sighed as I reclined in my plush office chair. "It's so much better than at _our_ studios."

"Yeah! How about it, Boss!.?" Izzy shouted at me. "Order some new staff members and all the stuff we've been getting for our new studios!"

"Yeah!" Iggy agreed. "We still have time to get some new stuff since the studios are still being repaired!"

"Well, we'll see…" I said with a shrug. "But where are we gonna get some new staff members?"

°CRASH!.!.!°

"HUH!.?.!" All three of us yelled with shocked voices as we turned to the right wall of the studio, which has just crumbled. There was a massive dust cloud.

"Aw man!" I slapped my head. "Everywhere we go there's trouble."

"No kidding." The dark purple hedgehog grumbled.

"Woah! What's that!.?" The lighter one exclaimed, pointing at the cloud, which had just dissipated.

A strange-looking spaceship was revealed. It was small and blue. It seemed to be a shuttle of some sort. The crowd looked with a hushed breath as my associates and I walked towards the strange craft.

"Hey, Iggy. Is it me or does that thing look familiar?" I asked.

Iggy gulped. "Y-y-yeah… It sorta looks like one of those pods we saw on that a-a-alien spaceship…"

I blinked in confusion. "But I thought Warior already dealt with them…"

"Alright!" Izzy cheered. "That means you two are gonna get probed again! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!.!.!"

°WHAM!.!.!°

°SQUEAK!.!.!°

"Yeow!.!.!" The older brother yelped, rubbing the two lumps on his head, courtesy of Iggy and my mallets. "What'd I do!.?.!"

"Shaddap and go check out that shuttle!" I roared, getting into a defensive position. Iggy mimicked my movement. Izzy sighed exasperatedly.

"Alright, alright." He grumbled, pulling out his own mallet.

Cautiously, the hedgehog in the red vest made his way towards the space shuttle. He mumbled curses to himself as he stepped closer and closer to the craft. The audience watched with frightful anticipation as Izzy got nearer to the vehicle.

Just as he stepped onto the rubble that was once the right wall, a door at the side of the ship opened with a whoosh! Izzy, Iggy, the audience, and I gasped as several beings stepped out of the shuttle. They were really buff-looking, green skinned things. If you've ever seen that one show, Megas XLR, they totally resembled the Glorft. For those who've never watched the show in question, the Glorft are about twice the size of an average person. They have robot-like bodies (or that may just be armor °Shrugs°). Finally, their green faces have tentacles where their mouths are!

These aliens seemed to be wearing differently colored armor. One of them was wearing gold armor while the others were in red. There also seemed to be a strange collar of some sort around their necks. There were several prongs sticking out of them. Also, there was a flashing red light on their centers. Me, Iggy, and Izzy looked a little green as we took in the horrid sight. Several members of the audience, on the other hand, vomited into bags, purses, and anything they can find.

Me and the siblings shuddered in fright as the aliens approached us. Izzy ran back to me and Iggy and huddled along with us. We could hear their metal feet clanging on the ground as they walked. To our horror, it was getting louder and louder. The three of us gulped and whimpered as the aliens stomped closer, ready to end it all. They kept coming and coming and coming and then…stopped?

"Huh?" We said in confusion. We looked up at the aliens. The one in the gold armor, presumably the leader, was standing in front of us. The ones in the red armor were lined up side by side behind him.

"Ship Master Zallamee and the crew of the star cruiser Evil's Bane at your command!" The gold alien barked, saluting us. The red ones followed suit.

Meanwhile, we gave them a freaked out look.

"Buh?.?.?"

Zallamee rolled his eyes, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a slip of paper, which he then handed to me.

"Hmmm… Let's see…" I mumbled, reading over the paper. "'Dear Prince Izzy, These are the crew members that probed and tortured you and Iggy. I have ordered them to follow any and all orders you give them. See those collars on their necks?'"

I put down the letter and looked closely at the aliens. Sure enough, I noticed the collars in question. I looked back at the paper.

"'If they disobey the tiniest order, the collars will send twenty thousand volts of electricity through their bodies. Have fun. Warior.'"

Me and Iggy smirked evilly at Zallamee and his crew, who gulped. Izzy, of course, looked uninterested.

"So let me get this straight." I started, tossing away the letter. "You have to do everything we say?"

The aliens nodded.

"And if ya disobey us, you'll get zapped with twenty thousand volts of electricity?" Iggy asked.

Again, they nodded.

"Good." I said, rubbing my hands deviously. "For my first order, _you_—" I pointed at Zallamee, who stood at attention. "—Get me and the boys some pineapple soda! And they better have those little umbrella things in them!"

"Yes sir!" The alien shouted, running off.

"And you!" I shouted at the remaining aliens. "Fix that wall you so clumsily crashed that ship of yours into!"

"Yes sir!.!.!" They replied, getting to work.

"Heh, I could get to enjoy this." I said before turning to the camera. "Anyway, for this chapter, we're changing things up a bit as far as the rotation is concerned. Instead of Team Rodriguez going through the next stage, Team _Sherlock_ will have a shot at the Frog Forest. As anybody that's played Sonic Heroes would know, the mission that the detectives would have to go through is one of the toughest in the entire game! Will they survive? Find out now!"

The crowd cheered as Izzy, Iggy, and I waved at them.

(A/N: Sorry if the aliens aren't described the way you imagined them, Warior. I didn't exactly know what they looked like. Heh, heh, heh…)

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Eleven

Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs!

Part One-One

**Stage Nine: Frog Forest**

**Mission****: Get through the forest without letting the frogs see ya!**

"Wow! Look at all the trees!" Little Scottie exclaimed excitedly. "I've never seen so many before!"

He, Eddie, and Trent were now miles away from the Grand Canyon. They spent the night at a motel and skated all morning until they reached their destination. They were looking over a lush forest that was teeming with life. The blue skies above were a welcome change from the yellow they were used to back home. The sky provided the perfect backdrop for this part of the country. There were trees as far as the eye can see. Strangely, there were also giant mushrooms and other varieties of vegetation. Nearby were three vines that connected the cliff the trio was standing on to the beginning of the stage. The vines looked sturdy and thick enough for the detectives to stand on.

"You don't get out much, do you?" Eddie asked the bee.

"Nope!" Scottie replied with a toothy grin, causing the chameleon to fall over.

"I gotta admit. This place is gorgeous." Trent agreed, nodding as the other reptile stood up.

"Bah! It could use a little darkness." Eddie criticized, wrapping his cape around himself. The others gave him a strange look.

"What? Like that motel we stayed in last night?" The crocodile asked, shaking slightly.

"That place was weird." Scottie said.

"Ha! It was the perfect temporary dwelling for the Prince of the Netherworld!" The chameleon let out an evil laugh. The others sweatdropped.

"You're crazy!" Trent shouted.

"That place was scary," Scottie agreed. "But kinda fun."

°Flashback°

_It was the night before. The trio was skating (flying in Scottie's case) along a highway in the desert. Considering how late it must've been, the road was empty, save for the occasional eighteen-wheeler. It was the same all around them. Cacti, mountains, sand, the road, the inky black sky. It was also very foggy. It was almost as dense as being in a pot of boiling hot soup. If it wasn't for Eddie's keen ninja instincts, they'd be completely lost. The full moon gave an ominous glow in the starry night. It felt very peaceful, but also very quiet, like something could jump out and attack at any moment._

_Suddenly, a low growl pierced the calm night air. Trent and Eddie skidded to a stop. Scottie, too busy looking around at his surroundings, crashed into the chameleon. Eddie growled as the bee fell to the ground._

_"Any idea what that was, mates?" The leader asked as Scottie flapped his wings and again took flight._

_"I don't know," Eddie replied, taking out a shuriken. "But it sounded dangerously close."_

_"Uh… Guys?" Scottie said._

_"Quiet. We have to be silent or it's over." Trent whispered._

_The growling was heard again. It was louder than the last one._

_"There it is again!" The croc hissed._

_"It's much closer now." Eddie told them as he readied his weapon._

_"It must be a coyote."_

_"Guys…" The bee tried._

_"Silence, eater of pollen." The ninja said. "I have to concentrate; otherwise I won't get a clean shot."_

_The growling was once again heard. It sounded very similar to a lion just before it pounces on its target!_

_"There it is! Kill it, kill it!" Trent screamed, pointing ahead._

_"Tonight, we eat fresh meat!" Eddie declared as he launched the ninja star…only to slice through air. He sweatdropped. "What…? I didn't get it? But I thought…"_

_There was the growling again._

_"Quick! On your left!" Trent yelled._

_"Guys… It's not…"_

_"Hee-yah!" The chameleon ignored Scottie as he fired another shuriken, hitting air again. "What the—?.! I missed again!.?"_

_"Keep firing! You gotta hit it eventually!" Trent encouraged. Eddie looked back and nodded._

_"Right!"_

_And so, the next five minutes were spent with the smaller reptile throwing ninja stars in every possible direction while Scottie tried to get their attention. The growling grew louder and louder with each passing second. Soon it was loud enough that it seemed like a whole pack of wolves was breathing down their necks. Screaming frantically, Trent made Eddie fire shuriken after shuriken. The chameleon threw his weapons all around in a faint effort to hit whatever was stalking them. Soon, the ninja ran out of ammo…and the growling was at its loudest!_

_"Don't you have ANYTHING left to throw!.?" The oldest member of the group shouted. Eddie turned to him, sweat dripping down his face. His eyes were wide with fear as he slowly shook his head._

_"Guys, guys, guys!.!.!" Scottie yelled, shuffling his arms and legs wildly. "I have something to tell ya!.!.!"_

_"Well, since we're about to become a midnight snack for whatever that thing is, you might as well tell us." The croc said, crossing his arms. The bee stopped flailing and held his stomach._

_"That growling was me…" He said weakly. "I'm hungry…"_

_Trent and Eddie blinked._

_"Y-you mean that was…" The latter started._

_"…Your stomach?" The former finished._

_"Uh-huh…" Scottie replied, nodding._

_The older kids fell over._

_"Well **that** was a waste of time!" Eddie shouted, throwing his hands up as he stood. "Now I have to find my shuriken!" He pulled his mask up as he yawned. "In the morning…"_

_"And I could use a warm shower." Trent groaned as he got to his feet. "But there's no place we can stay for the night."_

_"Hmmm…?" The youngest member of the trio looked to the right and gasped. "Look!" The others looked at him and followed his finger to the opposite side of the road they were on._

_The mist rolled away, revealing what seemed to be a motel. Several cars were parked in its parking lot. A diner was next to the office. All but one of the rooms had lights on. Behind the lodging was a tall hill. At the top stood a house. The only light was coming from a window in which the detectives were able to see the silhouette of an elderly human woman. The moon was seen behind it, giving the building an eerie look. The animals then looked up at the neon sign marking the name of the establishment._

_"'Bates Motel.'" Eddie read._

_A clap of thunder was heard as lightning struck. Everybody looked up at the skies above._

_"That's strange. It doesn't look like rain." Trent commented, holding a hand out. Everybody shrugged at each other before turning back to the sign._

_"This place is s-s-spooky…" Scottie shivered. His eyes lit up when he read the sign. "Yay! This place has a pool!" He instantly forgot his fear, and supposedly his hunger, as he performed a couple of back-flips._

_"And it's got cable and pay-per-view." Trent added._

_"Hey, ever see that one movie, Psycho?" Eddie asked the leader with a smirk._

_"No." The croc shook his head._

_"Great. Neither did I. Wanna watch it?"_

_Trent__ grinned._

_"Sure mate, but let's wait until he goes to sleep." He pointed a thumb at the bee. "I don't want him to get nightmares." The ninja nodded in response. _

_The trio then made their way across the street towards the Bates Motel._

_Thunder was heard as lightning struck again._

_"What's up with the weather tonight?" Trent asked. The others shrugged before they all continued towards the office._

_"Can we get some food first?" Little Scottie whined, clutching his growling stomach again. "I'm starving."_

_"We have to book a room first." Eddie answered, causing Trent to blink in realization._

_"Hey! How **are** we supposed to book a room and get dinner? We don't have any money!"_

_"Huh!.?.!" The bee exclaimed, flying in front of his face with a look of anger Trent didn't know he was even capable of. "Whaddya mean ya got no money!.? Ya dragged us out to the middle of nowhere and ya didn't think to bring any money!.?.!"_

_The other two gave him a weirded out look. Scottie sweatdropped and backed away._

_"Sorry… That was my stomach talking…" He apologized, blushing slightly._

_"Heh, think nothing of it, mate." Trent said, rubbing his snout. "But still, what are we gonna do? I can't make it another day without anything to eat…" His own stomach rumbled to prove his point._

_Eddie, however, was chuckling to himself._

_"Huh?" The leader turned to him when the sound reached his non-existent ears. He then glared at the chameleon. "What a fine time to be laughing! We don't have anything to eat and I'm dead tired!"_

_"Yeah!" Scottie shouted. "Why are ya laughing for!.?"_

_"Simple. The client said that any expenses we accumulate will be paid for by him." Eddie answered. "All we have to do is mention the name M.J.S. and they'll take care of us."_

_"HUH!.?.!" The other two detectives said in surprise._

_"When did **you** talk to the client? I've had the radio the whole time!" Trent yelled._

_"Look again." Eddie told him with a snicker._

_"Wha? What're you—" The leader pulled out an empty box of cracker jacks and glared at the other lizard. "How the he—"_

_"Ahem!" The ninja pointed at Scottie, whose eyes widened. Trent rolled his eyes._

_"—heeeeck…did you grab it?.!"_

_"I'm a ninja." Eddie started, producing the radio with a smirk. He tossed it back to the older boy and pulled down his mask. "I have my ways. In any case, I contacted him asking about expenses. Like I said, he made the arrangements, though he sounded most upset when I asked him."_

_"Whatever, mate. As long as he's paying for us, I don't care." Trent said, continuing towards the office with the others. "It better not affect what we're getting paid for doing this job though."_

_"If he knows what's good for him, he'll pay the full amount."_

_"Can we PLEASE get some food!.?" Scottie wailed, walking alongside them. He had gotten too tired to fly._

_"Alright already!" The other two yelled at him. They sweatdropped as the bee cheered and started shouting various names of food._

_Later…_

_After booking their room, the team walked into the diner and got some food. When it was time to pay, Eddie just simply told the waitress to put it on M.J.S.'s tab. They gave her a questioning look when she stuttered in fear and ran off. Come to think of it, the motel's clerk seemed quite nervous when the chameleon mentioned the name. The client must someone very powerful… _

_Anyway, after getting some food in their bellies, the trio retired to their room. _

_It was lit with a single dim lamp. Yellow wallpaper that had a floral pattern on it decorated the walls well, despite the fact it was peeling in certain areas. The furniture were so dusty, they were a gloomy, grayish color. There was a single armchair by two beds. A nightstand was between the beds. A TV was across from the beds. At the end of the room was the door to the bathroom. _

_The trio wasn't wearing their helmets. Trent's (which was blue and had New Zealand's flag on it), Scottie's (which was red and had happy face stickers on it), and Eddie's (which was black, of course) were hung up on the coat rack near the door along with the rest of their skating gear._

_"Ahhhh… That was the best meal I've ever had in awhile." Trent sighed, lying on the left bed._

_"For a rundown motel in the middle of the desert, that was delicious." Eddie agreed, sitting on the right bed._

_"Hmmmm… Yummy…" Scottie snored. He was fast asleep on the armchair. He was curled up like a cat, which might be considered cute had he not been a bee. The two older kids smiled at the insect._

_"Ya know, he may be a pain when he's awake, but he looks peaceful right now." The croc commented, putting a blanket over him._

_"Heh, too bad he can't be like this the whole time we're out here." The chameleon said with a nod as Trent returned to his bed. He then grabbed the remote that was sitting on the nightstand. "So about that movie…"_

_"In a few." Trent said, getting up again. "I'm gonna take a shower. Make sure the kid doesn't wake up." He disappeared into the bathroom._

_"Very well."_

_A few moments passed before the sound of running water was heard. The chameleon sat there, watching the TV. The ninja gave a disgruntled look at the receptor. It may have had cable, but the picture kept jumping every few seconds. He stood up and was about to stomp up to it when he remembered one of the key rules of being a ninja: "Always remain patient." So he sat back down and changed the channels until he noticed a somewhat odd program. He was now looking at a show that seemed to feature a bunch of human kids rolling around on skateboards._

_"Hmmm… This seems interesting…" The chameleon mumbled, setting down the remote._

_While watching the program, Eddie couldn't help but make some connections between the characters portrayed and some of his friends back at Ocean Shores. For one thing, one of them had dreadlocks that looked strangely similar to a certain hedgehog's. It also struck him as strange to see that the character had the same exact sunglasses and headband as said hedgehog._

_"Weird…" He commented. _

_He then turned his attention to what seemed to be the best friend of the one in the sunglasses. This person seemed like the echidna Eddie always sees hanging out with the hedgehog. The cowlick and the hat were exactly alike! He was also taller than the first boy, just like the echidna! Also, this character was carrying a video camera. What seemed odd was that the echidna also used a camera._

_"This is getting strange…"_

_The camera onscreen soon switched to a purple haired girl who looked incredibly similar to the bat the chameleon and his partners have faced not too long ago. The clothes were the same! From the camouflage pants to the red rimmed sunglasses in her hair, this human girl looked just like that bat! Eddie shook his head._

_"It's just a coincidence." He told himself. "No need to get so worked up." _

_His eyes widened when he saw the last member of the quartet take a spill. The yellow haired kid was round, just like the fox the trio took those weapons from! He even had the same glasses! And the hairstyle… It was exactly the same as the kitsune's! Eddie started sweating when he saw the quartet meet up with another character. This one was wearing a cape just like the one he was wearing. The boy on the TV was also wearing a mask, just like the one he normally wears. And even worse, that kid was talking with a scary accent!_

_"AHHHH!.!.! It's like looking in a mirror!" Eddie screamed. Surprisingly, his wail didn't even wake up Little Scottie, who only turned in his makeshift bed. The ninja's uncharacteristic scream didn't reach Trent either. It was drowned out by the noise of the shower. The chameleon panted for quite some time before taking a deep breath._

_"Whew… Almost lost my cool for a second there…" He wiped his head. "I must remember the ninja rule: 'NEVER let anything disrupt the mission.'" _

_He continued to watch the show, although somewhat freaked out. Things went pretty normal after that. That is, until the show was close to ending._

_"Man, what's taking Trent so long in there?" Eddie asked himself. "I wonder if he drowned or something."_

_He was about to get up when the lights started to flicker on and off._

_"That's weird… Must be faulty wiring." He said, looking at the lamp, which stopped flickering._

_He sat back down when the TV started jumping again._

_"Ugh… I know I should probably consider myself lucky that this dwelling even **has** cable, by enough is enough!" _

_With an irritated look, the so-called "prince" stood up and walked over to the TV. He then proceeded to bang it in a vain attempt to make the picture stay still. Unfortunately, no amount of physical force can make the evil appliance work. The chameleon gritted his teeth as the lights went on and off again. He just continued to bang the set, cursing whatever force got him into this predicament. Needless to say, things were about to get much worse._

_It was at that very moment that Trent decided to practice his singing for their next Team Blast._

_"SINGING IN THE RAIN!.!.!" He "sang" with his extremely irritating voice. "LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!.!.!"_

_"Make it stop…" Eddie quivered, gritting his teeth to the point that they were cracking. "Make it end…" His eyes widened as he continued to bang the TV. _

_The noise, the flickering, and the picture jumping continued, eating at the ninja. The veins in his optic receptors bulged as his pupils shrank to the size of a dot. He couldn't take the pain, the mind-numbing torture. _

_"OH, I'M SINGING IN THE RAIN!.!.!"_

_If Eddie had ears, he'd rip them out to rid himself of his leader's screeching singing voice. He shook violently as he continued banging the unresponsive TV. His eyes continued to bother him as the lights turned on and off, on and off, on and off! He grinded his teeth as Scottie joined in the fun by snoring loudly. The bee sounded so squeaky, it drove the poor ninja mad. He couldn't take it anymore!_

_"THIS TORTURE MUST END!.!.!" He roared as he pounded the TV with the force of a meteor. _

_Almost as if obeying him, the picture on the TV returned to normal, the lights no longer flickered, Trent stopped singing, and Little Scottie once again slept silently. The chameleon panted as he continued shaking, albeit much slower than before. He took a deep breath as his eyes relaxed. His pupils returned to their normal size as the veins disappeared. He sighed as his body stopped quivering._

_"Whew… Thank the dark spirits **that's** over…" He said, making his way back to his bed. He lay down and started at the ceiling._

_It seemed that the insanity was behind him._

_"**And now…**" An announcer on the TV said. "**Time for The Fairly Oddparents!**"_

_"HAKI SAKI!.!.!" Eddie shrieked, sitting up and tossing a shuriken at the appliance. It broke through the screen, causing sparks to shoot out of it for a few seconds before smoke floated out of it. The chameleon blinked and looked at his right hand, which once held the weapon._

_"Well, whaddya know! I had one more left the whole time!" He rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled._

_That was the most important rule of being a ninja: "Destroy your opponent in the quickest way possible."_

_Eddie sat there, admiring his work for about a minute before a look of fear appeared on his face._

_"Oh no! I broke the TV!" He held his head as he moaned. "I'm really gonna hear it from Trent **this** time!"_

_He lied there, trying to think of an excuse he could use when he shot up with a brilliant plan._

_"I got it! If I be real nice about it, I can tell him what happened." His eyes shifted as he rubbed his hands. "He must be very relaxed right now, so I can go in there and tell him and he won't get mad. …At least not until he sees the mess…"_

_He shrugged._

_"Oh well. It's worth a shot."_

_He walked over to the bathroom door and tested the knob. To his good fortune, it was unlocked, so he let himself in. Steam poured over the entire room, giving it a misty look. The mirror was completely fogged up. Trent's air skates, socks, gloves, wrist band, necklace, and hat were lying on the floor, as well as the walkie talkie they received from their client, the flame ring he got at Sam's garage, and the yellow Chaos Emerald they found in the city. The crocodile's silhouette could be seen behind the shower curtain._

_'**Hmmm…?**' Eddie looked to the left, where the faucet was, and grinned before picking up an object. '**This'll be perfect!**' He tip-toed over to the curtain._

_Everything turned black and white as we began this cliché joke._

_Imagine if you will one Trent. He was a fourteen year-old crocodile with brown scales, although…since everything was currently black and white, he was a dull gray at the moment. Anyway, he was contently bathing himself with soap provided by the motel. His eyes were closed in pleasure as the warm water soothed his aching body. The water massaged his legs, which were battered from all the skating he had done. He hissed in slight pain as he rubbed the soap over various cuts given to him by some of the robots he and his team had battled. He cursed to himself as the water ran down the burn on his chest, which he got from Reggie during that impromptu fight._

_'**Man, what was her problem?**' He thought as he lathered his head. '**All I said was that I didn't want her to get hurt, and she went crazy.**' He sighed._

_'**I guess that teaches me an important lesson: NEVER get a Sheila angry.**'_

_He rinsed off the soap and reached towards the controls for the water when he saw a silhouette in the curtain._

_'**What the? Who's this bloke? I didn't even hear the door open.**' He blinked. '**And what happened to Eddie and Scottie? Wouldn't they have seen him come into the room?**'_

_His eyes widened when he saw something in the person's hand. It was skinny and looked very sharp._

_'**Is that a knife?**' He gulped as realization hit. '**He…He must've got to them and gave them the ax.**' His eyes narrowed as he clenched a fist. '**Well, he's not getting me!**'_

_The assassin reached the curtain and drew back his weapon as he gripped the plastic barrier with the other hand. Cue the Psycho theme!_

_'**I'll avenge you, mates!**'_

_"YAH!.!.!" He screamed as he pounced on the assailant, ripping the curtain. Trent and the other person were surrounded in a cloud of dust as fists flew. The croc shouted and cursed as he continued his assault._

_"AHHHH!.!.! TRENT, WAIT!.!.! IT'S ME! EDDIE!.!.!" The assassin yelled, trying to fend off the furious reptile. Trent got in a couple more punches before the other's words got to him._

_"Eddie?" He blinked and took a look. Indeed, he was sitting on top of the chameleon, who now had two black eyes and a swollen cheek. He then glared at him. "What the hell are you doing in here!.? Can't I take a shower in piece!.?.!"_

_"Well, I **wanted** to give ya something to help ya get those hard to reach places!" The ninja snapped, holding up what Trent thought was his weapon. Turned out the "weapon" was just a harmless brush._

_"Well **that** was brilliant! I thought you were out to get me!" The croc roared. "Next time, KNOCK!.!.!"_

_"What's all that screaming about?"_

_The reptiles' heads snapped towards the bathroom door, where Little Scottie was standing. His left eye was open while his right one was being rubbed by his right hand. His other hand was holding the blanket. His eyes widened when he saw the—erm…**compromising** position Trent and Eddie were in, not to mention the fact that the former was wearing the shower curtain. The older kids' eyes also widened when they noticed what he was staring at._

_Cut to a view of the motel from outside._

_"**AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!**"_

°End Flashback°

"That was so scary…" Scottie said, trembling.

"That was the worst night of my life." Trent shuddered at the memory.

"Now that I think about it, you're right." Eddie agreed, nodding. "And the owner was very livid in the morning."

"I've never heard so many bad words before." The bee added.

"Good thing we managed to get out of there before he could charge us for that _TV_." The leader commented, glaring at the chameleon, who narrowed his eyes.

"And we couldn't even go into the pool…"

"I told him to add it to the bill, didn't I!.?.!" Eddie spat, ignoring the insect. He crossed his arms and looked the other way. "I'm just glad I had enough time to find my shuriken before we confronted him."

"I can't believe you missed _every_ shot, mate." Trent started, shaking his head with a solemn smirk. "Maybe you should go back to ninja school."

Eddie narrowed his eyes into two slits and growled at him. He pulled out a shuriken and advanced on the crocodile. He slowly walked towards the older boy, keen on causing bodily harm for that remark. Trent was oblivious to the imminent attack for he was currently trying to shut up Little Scottie, who started on a wild tangent about flowers. The chameleon bent his legs, poised to make his move. He had to make sure the crocodile was caught off-guard. It'd make the attack that much more fun to execute. His eyes twinkled as he tightened his grip on his weapon. Trent was clueless; he was far too busy dealing with the bee, who wondered what smells better, a rose or a daffodil.

'_It's now or never._' He told himself, confident that he'll strike.

Without warning, he pounced!

"_Detectives!_"

He crashed into the ground!

"What's up with _you_?" Trent asked the downed prince, who only muttered curses in response. Of course, he was muffled by the dirt. The older boy shrugged and pulled out his walkie talkie. "We hear ya, mate. Go ahead."

"_Here's your next mission._" The client started. "_In order to reach your next destination, you must travel through this forest. Inside are frogs that are capable of summoning rain if they see anyone in their territory. Do **not** let it rain! Understood?_"

"Let me get this straight. You want us to go through this forest WITHOUT letting any of these frogs see us!.?" Trent barked with shock at the ludicrous command.

"What kind of mission is that!.?" Eddie shouted as he shot up. When the others gave him a weirded out look, he cleared his throat. "I mean, how can the Prince of the Netherworld and his loyal followers get through this forest without making it rain?" He said in his creepy voice.

"'Loyal followers?'" The leader growled while the insect glared, making the ninja sweatdrop.

"Heh, heh, heh…" He chuckled nervously.

The client gave an irritated sigh.

"_Anyway, figure it out yourself! GET MOVING!.!.!_" He roared. The trio put their hands to the sides of their heads as if to drown out the noise.

"What a grouch." Scottie commented when their hearing returned. "He sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?"

"Never mind that! We got our mission, so let's go!" Trent ordered, skating towards the nearby vines.

"Roger." Eddie complied as he followed.

"Hey! Wait for me, guys!" The bee shouted, flying after them to start the stage.

To be continued…

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part One

The scene opened in the studio. Zallamee and his crew were passing by me, Izzy, and Iggy, who were sitting at the desk. The aliens were carrying wood, cement, hammers, and other tools. They were busy fixing the studio's right wall. Their working was so loud that the hedgehogs and the audience were covering their ears.

"Nyah nyah!" I blew a raspberry at the camera. "You thought I forgot about doing commentary for the stage, didn't ya?" I yelled over the pounding. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but we gotta have action!"

"Hey!" Izzy shouted over the power drills. "Aren't the chapters normally longer than this!.?"

"Well, thanks to the suggestions of a couple friends of mine, namely mike2000 and Silent Whisper, I've decided that from now on, I'm gonna split the stage chapters into two or three parts, depending on the length of them! The chapters dedicated to boss/team battles will remain the same length, regardless of how long I make 'em!"

"Hmph!" The hedgehog in the red vest crossed his arms. "You're just trying to stall, aren't you!.? Not to mention this is probably a cheap attempt to get more reviews."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"What!.?" Iggy yelled over the saws.

"I said, 'Maybe!'" But my reply was drowned out by the noise of the aliens' work.

"What!.?" Both hedgehogs shouted.

"I SAID—" I turned towards the right wall. "HEY! KEEP IT DOWN ALREADY!.!.!"

The aliens turned to us nervously.

"Yes sir!"

The noise-level decreased immediately after that.

"Whew!" Everybody else sighed with relief.

"Anyway…" I said, turning back to the Yaoi Brothers. "Maybe I am stalling, maybe I'm not. And more reviews _would_ be nice, but I'm not holding my breath." I turned to the camera. "In any case, next time, Team Sherlock begins their trek through the forest. Can they make it out without making it rain? Tune in next—"

Suddenly, a black blur sped in through the massive hole in the wall. It blazed towards the brothers and me. Everybody looked confused as the blur left a huge box in front of Izzy. The blur left the studio and came back seconds later with another box. This continued for about a minute until twelve boxes were placed in front of the dark violet hedgehog.

"What the—?" Izzy was cut off as the dark blur skidded to a stop, revealing none other than Shadow the Hedgehog. Everyone gasped at him.

"Woah! What a pleasant surprise, ladies and gentlemen!" I started, walking around the desk with a microphone in my hand. "It seems that we have a special guest. From the Sonic dimension, the one, the only Shadow the Hedgehog!"

The crowd cheered and applauded as I approached the ebony mammal.

"So Shadow, what brings ya here?"

"Yeah! And what's with the boxes?" Iggy added.

"Hmph!" The dark one crossed his arms. "I'm here only to deliver these fruits and vegetables to _him_." He glared at Izzy, who blinked in response.

"Erm… You're not still sore about what happened when we were in the Sonic dimension, are ya?" He shrank back as Shadow growled at him. The original master of darkness relaxed his features and produced a tag.

"Here." He grumbled, handing it to Izzy.

"Hmmm… I wonder who sent these." The purple hedgehog said, grabbing the slip. "'To the poor muse-y Izzy who is constantly tormented by his comedic genius of a boss—'" He scoffed at that one. "Yeah, right!"

"Watch it…" Iggy warned, producing his mallet. Izzy gulped and looked at the tag again.

"'—I hope these fruits and veggies make ya feel better. Love, Mythica. ♥'"

"Heh, so they're from her, huh? Pretty cool." I commented. "Now say 'Thank you' to nice Ultimate Life Form."

Both Shadow _and_ Izzy growled at me for that one.

"Hmph!" The latter crossed his arms. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." The former replied, holding his hand out. "Now for my tip…"

"A _TIP_!.?.!" Izzy demanded. "Why should I give _you_ a tip!.?.!"

He gulped as Shadow disappeared with a low snarl. A few seconds passed before he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew… For a second there, I thought he was gonna—"

°BOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!°

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!" Izzy screamed as he was blasted through the roof of the studio by Shadow's Chaos Burst.

I sweatdropped as Shadow reappeared.

"Hmph! See ya around." He said before skating off.

"Bye!.!.!" Iggy yelled cheerfully, waving after him.

"Ugh… Here a day and _already_ we're wrecking the place." I moaned. "What am I gonna do?"

"Aw man!" I turned towards Zallamee, who delivered that groan. "Don't tell me we have to repair the roof too!"

"Hmmm…" I started, holding my chin. "Actually, I was thinking about calling in some contractors, but you'll do."

The rest of the aliens glared at their leader, who slapped his head in exasperation.

"In any case…" I turned to the audience. "We'll see ya on Friday (hopefully) with Part One-Two of this chapter!"

Iggy and I waved to the clapping audience as the camera whited out.


	17. Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs! Pt 1, 2

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Two

The scene opened in mike2000's studio, which thankfully has been repaired. The hole in the wall looked the same as it had once before and the hole in the roof caused by Izzy and Shadow's little erm…_disagreement_ has been patched up. Izzy and I were sitting at the desk while Iggy was standing in the middle of the stage with one of the Glorft.

"So you can't harm us in any way?" The hedgehog asked innocently. The alien in red armor glared at him, causing Iggy to shrink back.

"Yes, that's correct." He answered. "We cannot lay a hand on you or anybody for that matter." He groaned.

Iggy gave an uncharacteristically evil smirk as he pulled out his mallet.

"Well, in _that_ case…"

And he gave a war cry as he jumped into the air with his weapon drawn. His intended target: the alien's head.

°SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!.!.!°

Iggy's left arm was a blur as he repeatedly swung his mallet. The light purple hedgehog brought his hammer crashing down on the Glorft's head multiple times before jumping back. He flipped in the air before planting his feet on the ground. The crowd cheered and applauded the act of agility.

The alien, however, wasn't pleased. A massive lump grew out of the area of his head where Iggy bashed him. He growled as he advanced on the younger Yaoi Brother. The hedgehog sweatdropped as he backed up slowly. The Glorft's massive feet caused small craters to form as he stopped ever closer to Iggy.

"WHY YOU!.!.!" He roared as he pounced on the furry. Iggy ducked and covered his head as the lumbering extraterrestrial held out his fist to whomp him.

°ZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!.!.!°

The alien screamed in pain as his body glowed yellow from the electrical discharge caused by his restraint collar. The audience roared with laughter as the Glorft landed on the floor and twitched uncontrollably. Iggy looked up and joined in the laughter too, pointing at the alien.

When the charbroiled alien stopped getting shocked and the laughter died down, the camera focused on Izzy and I, who looked at the scene with shock.

"Woah…" Izzy blinked as we turned to each other. "Who knew that Iggy was capable of being evil?"

"Well I must confess, when I created him, I sorta used your basic design for his personality." I admitted, rubbing the back of my head. My partner gasped at that.

"Does that mean he hates Sam like I do!.?" He asked, his eyes brightening.

"Nope. He actually has no problem with anybody. The only things he hates that're associated with the show are the Rodriguez Brother/Reggie pairings." I answered, causing him to fall over in response.

"I shoulda known…" He groaned, sitting on the couch again. "After all, _I'm_ cursed to hate those pairings too…"

"Yep!" I said, happily sticking my tongue out at him. I turned to the camera. "Anyway, welcome to Part One-Two of the chapter! Before we get to business, we got to do the reviewer responses!"

"Yay. I can _hardly_ contain myself…"

"Sarcasm will get you nowhere." I remarked, reaching into the desk. Izzy growled at me as I pulled out a piece of paper. "First, to Warior, woah! The rest of your Glorft and several other species in your fleet turned on ya!.?"

"Woah… Heavy…" Izzy said with wide eyes.

"Excellent!"

Everybody snapped their heads at Zallamee, who had delivered that remark. He was standing in the middle of the stage, along with the rest of his crew. The Glorft in the gold armor crossed his arms as the rest of the red ones tended to the one Iggy pranked. The hedgehog in question ran back to Izzy and me.

"Care to explain yourself?" I asked, glowering at him.

"Gladly, you pathetic Earther! Once our brothers are done with our '_leader_'—" He made air quotes. "—they'll come for us and then you three will be—"

°BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTPT!.!.!°

"It's about time those collars took effect." Izzy said, crossing his arms as the entire crew was shocked.

"Yeah, he was getting annoying." I agreed with a nod as they fell on the ground, twitching just like the red Glorft from before was.

"That was s-s-s-s-s-scary…" Iggy added, trembling as he clung to my right arm. "D-d-d-d-d-do you think those mean aliens will _really_ come here?"

"Nah, I doubt it." I answered, snatching my arm away. "Warior will undoubtedly regain control and most likely throw all of those guys in the Pit."

Everybody else shuddered at the mention of that horrid place.

I blinked. "Anyway…" I looked at the sheet again. "Finally, to Mythica…" I sweatdropped. "Heh, heh… Anthros Next Door, huh? Nice, I like that! And I guess Shadow broke an important rule, huh?"

"Hmph! He deserved to get bashed like that if ya ask me!" Izzy shouted. Iggy and I sighed and rolled our eyes at him.

"Whatever." We both said.

"Anyway, only two reviews again!.? I must be losing my touch." I commented, scratching my head. "Well, here's hoping I get lucky with this week's update. For the second part of this chapter, Team Sherlock will begin their cross country trek through the forest!"

"Hey wait!" Izzy interrupted. He gave a confused look. "'Cross country?'"

"Yeah." I nodded. "In case you haven't noticed, almost every locale for the 'zones' has been a place in the U.S. The beach area was outside Ocean Shores, the city was just south of Los Angeles, the casino was obviously in Las Vegas, and of course we all know where the Grand Canyon is. In order to reach the location of the next three stages, all four of the teams have to travel across the country by use of the Frog Forest stage."

"And once again, the author makes zero sense." The dark purple hedgehog said with an exasperated shrug.

°SQUEAK!°

"Ow!" Izzy yelped, rubbing his forehead. He glared at Iggy, who returned the stare as he brandished his mallet.

"Thanks, Iggy." I said, smiling at him. The hedgehog grinned back at me as I turned to the camera. "Anyway, will the detectives get through the stage without being seen by the frogs? Read on!"

The crowd cheered as Iggy and I waved at the camera.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Eleven

Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs!

Part One-Two

The trio jumped on the vines. They were as skinny as rails, so the group didn't have a problem standing on them. Using their shoes, they grinded down the vines towards the beginning of the forest. Trent was on the middle vine, Little Scottie, who flapped his wings to stay balanced, was on the left vine, and Eddie was on the last one. The ebony one seemed to be in deep thought as the vines dipped.

"Hmmmm… The client…"

"Pardon?" Trent said, turning to the smaller lizard. Eddie switched his stance so that he could face the 'dile. The ninja pulled up his mask.

"I was just thinking." He started in his normal voice. "The initials the client told me to use for expenses sound kinda familiar, don't you think?"

"Hmmmm…" Trent held his snout as he looked up. "M.J.S…" He looked at Eddie and nodded. "Yeah… Now that ya mention it, those initials _do_ sound familiar…"

"And everybody was scared when you said those letters too." Scottie joined in the conversation. Eddie nodded at him.

"This may help with unmasking our client."

"But who do we know that has those initials?" Trent asked. "Who can make everybody shake like that?"

"I have no clue," Eddie started, lowering his mask. "But I MUST meet him and learn his dark secrets! I'll be the most horrible person in all of Ocean Shores! Muahahahahahaha!.!.!"

Trent and Little Scottie sweatdropped.

"He's s-s-s-scary…" The little bee shuddered.

"No kidding." Trent agreed, rolling his eyes. He then looked ahead. "Ok, the vines are about to end. Eddie, take the lead."

"Right!" Eddie nodded as they jumped off.

When the trio landed, they switched to speed formation. In front of them were two small stalks. Hanging off of each of them was a huge fruit. It was a yellowish orange. The fruit also looked quite rubbery. There was also a small bluff in front of them.

"Alright, let's move!" The chameleon said, jumping towards the fruit. The others followed suit.

When they hit the strange piece of fruit, they bounced off it as balls. They were sent a moderate distance into the air until they were over the bluff, where they saw a turtle robot, which was guarding the beginning of a loop. When the trio landed, the bot brought out its cannon and began charging energy into it.

"Uh-oh!" Scottie yelped.

"I'll take care of this!" Trent shouted. He leapt towards the robot with his fist held out. With a battle cry, he punched out the turtle's head, causing sparks to shoot out of it. The trio jumped back as the bot exploded, clearing the path.

"Whew… That was close." The bee sighed.

"Come on!" Eddie ordered, taking the lead again. He skated up the loop, followed by the others.

As they cleared the loop-de-loop, the trio went down a steep ninety degree angle. When they reached the bottom, the path smoothed out into a horizontal level. They continued to skate/fly through the path, going through three more loops at nearly the speed of light. When they reached the third loop, they discovered a gap in the top of it. They pressed onward, however.

"Yay! Awesome!" Little Scottie cheered as they all did a barrel roll in the air before reaching the other end of the loop.

When they cleared it, they hit a jump pad, which sent them over the forest below to another cliff. This new area consisted of a tiny puddle and two small platforms, which grew out of the ground, thanks to their roots. The platforms were next to each other in a sort of stair-like position. They were next to a plateau, which had a huge stalk growing near a cliff. Four yellow platforms grew out of it, giving access to a large vine that looked to be as thick as the ones the trio used prior to beginning the stage.

"Woah…" Scottie said, floating forward.

"Look out!" Trent hissed, pulling the bee back. "There's a frog here!"

Sitting on the plateau in front of the group was a frog. The odd part about it was that it was twice Trent's size! Like most frogs, it was green. It also had yellow markings on it. Its low croaking filled the air. The trio turned to each other with questioning looks on their faces.

"So what do we do?" The leader whispered.

"We have to sneak past it somehow." Eddie replied. "We have to be as stealthy and silent as possible. Luckily, _I'm_ fully capable of remaining out of sight." He smirked at the others. "You two, on the other hand…"

"Hmph!" The croc crossed his arms in response.

"Hey! I know what we could do!" Scottie shouted. "We could—MMPH!.?.!"

The two reptiles had covered his mouth.

"Sssssshhhhhh…!" They both hissed, looking at the frog nervously. It didn't even turn to them. The trio sighed with relief.

"Whaddya trying to do, mate?.! Get us caught!.?" Trent hissed as he and Eddie released the insect's mouth.

"We have to remain _quiet_!" The ninja added.

"Oops! Sorry…" Scottie whispered. "But I have an idea!"

"What is it?" The leader asked.

"If Mr. Ninja can make me and you invisible too, we can get past that froggy with no problem!"

"Hmmmmm…" Trent held his snout as he considered the boy's plan. He soon nodded. "That doesn't too bad." Scottie did a back-flip in celebration as the bigger reptile turned to the smaller one. "So, can ya do it?"

"Hmmmm…" Eddie held his own chin in thought. "Perhaps… I've never tried making someone else invisible along with myself before…"

"Well, _now's_ ample time to try it out, mate!"

"Ok…" The chameleon nodded. "We'll try it. Hopefully, that frog won't see us." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Each of you, hold a shoulder."

The insect and the older reptile looked at each other and nodded. They then grabbed onto each of the ninja's shoulders.

"Here goes!" Eddie shouted as he shut his eyes and concentrated.

A swirl of wind enveloped the trio as well as dead, dried up leaves. The chameleon grunted as he kept up his technique. Soon, the wind died down and he was panting. Trent and Scottie looked around themselves as the leaves fell all around them. Things still looked the same. The world wasn't an entirely different color or anything. Plus, they can still see each other. Were they truly invisible? Eddie looked back at his teammates.

"We have to hurry!" He warned. The others nodded and started moving while still hanging on to each other.

They moved towards the plateau, making sure they were quiet. They soon reached the platform. Counting silently to three, the trio (or at least Eddie and Trent) jumped onto the platform at the same time. They counted again before leaping onto the second platform and then a third time before reaching the plateau. They slowly tiptoed past the frog, which still didn't notice them.

'_Whew! I guess it **did** work then._' Trent thought, breathing a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding.

Making sure they were still touching each other, the group switched to fly formation and made their way up the stalk. When they reached the highest platform, Scottie flew onto the vine. Since he was at the bottom, Trent set his feet in a sideways position, allowing his air skates to lock-on to the organic rail. They slowly slid down the vine. When they were a considerable distance from the frog, Eddie ended their invisibility as he and Scottie jumped on the ivy.

"Yay! We got past the froggy!" The bee cheered, waving his arms wildly.

"Oh man…" Eddie breathed as he slumped forward. "That was…so draining…"

"You ok, mate?" Trent asked. The chameleon, who was in the front, turned and nodded.

"I'm fine, but it was so tiring just to move…"

"Hmmmm… So you _can_ make us invisible too, but you lose so much energy, you can sustain it for a short time, right?" The croc hypothesized.

"Right…" Eddie nodded, catching his breath. "I can still get us through this forest of amphibians, but we have to move quickly." He stood straight up.

"Alright. We better make sure we remember that." Trent acknowledged. "Let's move on."

"Right!" The other two furries agreed.

They started dancing as the vine curved to the left.

"Hey, are you guys sure we're going the right way?" Scottie asked after a few moments.

"This is the only vine that went away from that ridge!" Eddie answered impatiently as he pulled up his mask. "Of _course_ this is the right way!"

"Oh…" The bee's antenna drooped at the rather rude answer. "Ok then…"

The trio continued to dance as the vine went around a moss-covered stone column. On top of it was what looked like a giant beehive. Despite the strange shape of the structure, there weren't any giant bees around.

"Good thing too. We got enough trouble with one _normal-sized_ bee." Eddie remarked.

"Hey!" Scottie protested.

"Enough, you two! We're almost at the end!" Trent barked.

As the detectives reached the bottom of the column, the vine straightened out. They gasped when they noticed that it was also about to end! They tried to think of some way out of this predicament when the leader snapped his fingers.

"Scottie! Take the lead, mate!" He ordered.

"Okey dokey!" The bee replied.

As the vine ended, the group fell towards the forest below! As the two reptiles screamed, Little Scottie flapped his tiny wings and took flight. He dove and grabbed Eddie's hands. The bee grunted as he ascended little by little. The chameleon breathed a sigh of relief. At least until Trent fell towards him and grabbed his legs.

"Yikes!" Scottie yelped as he was dragged down by the older kids' weight.

"Come on!" Trent roared. "Lift faster!"

"Ugh! I'm…trying!" The bug grunted as he again began to ascend. His wings were two tiny blurs as he moved faster.

"We're almost there!" Eddie said, looking up past Scottie. They were nearing a cliff.

The flying member of the group struggled against the weight of his teammates for a few seconds more before finally reaching the cliff. Breathing heavily, he dropped Eddie and Trent before slumping on the ground. He had a dazed look on him as he tried to catch his breath.

"Ow!" Trent shouted, rubbing his sore butt. It seemed that Scottie had dropped them on their tender spots.

"Ooooohhhh…" Eddie hissed, turning towards the panting bee with his mask down and a shuriken out. "Maker of honey… I'm gonna—!"

°WHAM!°

"Ouch!" The ninja yelled, rubbing his head. He glared at Trent, who had just put his fist down. "What'd ya do _that_ for!.?"

"Sssshhhhh… There's a frog here." The leader whispered. Eddie immediately forgot his pain as he looked around.

"Where?"

"Over there." The croc said, pointing ahead of them.

On a ridge ahead of the trio was another of those giant frogs. It was sitting at the base of a tall column, which was covered in moss and fungi. Luckily, the reptile didn't notice them. Under the ridge was a turtle bot. By the trio was a big mushroom. Directly above it was a vine that was shaped like a swing. There were two more swings ahead of it.

"Hmmmmm…" The chameleon hummed, looking over the area a couple of times. His eyes brightened as he crossed his arms. "I have come up with a plan, my army of darkness." He said in his creepy voice.

"Ok! There you go again with this whole 'you're the leader' thing!" Trent shouted. "_I'm_ the leader, mate!"

"Yeah! He's the leader!" Scottie repeated as he resumed flying. Eddie sighed exasperatedly.

"Alright, alright! I get it!" He yelled in his normal voice as he threw his hands up. "But I still have a plan for getting past that frog."

"So what is it then?" The crocodile asked, crossing his arms. The ninja lifted up his mask with a scary smirk.

"Follow me." He told them in his otherworldly voice before skating towards the mushroom. Trent and Scottie looked at each other and shrugged before following him.

As soon as Eddie was within range, he jumped towards the mushroom. The others, still having no clue what he was planning, followed suit. The chameleon bounced off the mushroom and flew towards the first swing. He grabbed onto it and started swinging back and forth. He grinned.

"Heh, I _knew_ this would work!"

His celebration was cut short when he felt the weight of Scottie and Trent pulling him down! Eddie grunted as he tried to hang on while still swinging. Because of his size, swinging with Scottie was no problem. _Trent_, on the other hand…

"Ugh! Let go already! You're too—" The ninja felt his grip slipping. "—HEAVY!.!.!"

"Be quiet! We can't let the frog know we're here!" The leader shouted.

"Well, I'm sure he would've seen us by now!" The younger reptile retorted as they started arguing.

"Hmmmm…?" Scottie looked towards the ridge and gave a wide grin. "Awwww! The froggy's sleeping!"

"Huh?" The two older boys gave the bee a curious look before looking ahead.

Indeed, the frog that was sitting at the base of the stone column was fast asleep. A bubble, which was expanding and contracting with every breath, was coming out of its nose.

Eddie and Trent sweatdropped and gave each other an irritated look.

"Well, _that_ was pointless." Eddie was the first to speak.

"No kidding." Trent rolled his eyes before remembering the situation. "Hey! Let's go already! My arms are killing me!"

"Yeah! I'm being pulled like a rubber band!" The bee complained.

"_Your_ arms!.?" The ninja glared at the crocodile. "What about _mine_?.! _I'm_ the one on top!"

"You'd rather be on the bottom!.?" Trent snapped.

The chameleon blushed and sweatdropped before clearing his throat.

"Never mind! Hang on!"

The trio then moved their bodies back and forth. The swing, which was stationary during that little spat, was moving again. As they swung, they went further and further whenever they went forward.

"Let go when it reaches the highest point of the swing, alright mates?" Trent advised. "We can get to the next vine easily!"

"Ugh! Got it!" Eddie grunted as they went backwards again.

"Ok!" Scottie added as they went forwards.

As soon as they reached the highest point of their swing, they all let go. To avoid dragging Eddie down, Scottie and Trent let go of him. As soon as the chameleon grabbed the next swing which was slightly higher, the bee and croc grabbed his legs. The ebony one groaned under the weight of his teammates, but hung on as they started swinging again. They reached the highest point of the swing fast and let go.

As they flew towards the last swing, the turtle bot noticed them and fired an energy ring at them. Eddie and Trent performed an Ollie to dodge the projectile while Scottie flew around it. The trio barely made it to the last swing, which was above the sleeping frog.

"Ok, here goes!" Eddie shouted as they all leaned backwards. He let out a mighty cry as the team all pushed themselves forward. The vine-like swing went up towards the column.

"Now, Eddie!" Trent ordered as his legs went up.

"Wow!" Scottie said in awe as the swing reached its highest point.

"Right!" The chameleon nodded as he let go, causing the team to go flying towards the top of the column.

Down below, the snoozing frog's bubble popped as it looked up and surveyed its territory. When it didn't see anybody, it gave a shrug and went back to sleep.

Meanwhile, the detectives landed on top of the ledge, which contained a puddle of water. Ahead, over a gap, was an air ring, which provided access to another ledge. Before the cliff though was a checkpoint, which Trent quickly grabbed.

"Alright Scottie, fly us over there." He said as he glowed a faint orange.

"Got it!" The bee replied.

The trio switched to fly formation and hovered over the gap. Little Scottie grunted slightly as he lifted them across to the air ring. They passed through the ring and were propelled to a platform.

"Oh man! We're in trouble!" Scottie yelped as he hid behind Trent who, along with Eddie, had looks that were mixes of slight fright and pondering.

Here's the situation: There were several platforms in front of them. On the platform ahead and to the right was a pair of coconut pawns. They were armed with lances and shields. The trio can easily take care of them. There was just one problem. On the platform to the left was another frog. If the team engages the robots, they would run the risk of letting the frog see them. Ahead of the platform the robots were on was another platform, which had an unarmed pawn on it. Unlike the previously mentioned one, which was on solid ground, this one was floating in the air. Also, it was yellow, as if it were a flower. Beyond it was another cliff, which had what seemed to be a closed up mushroom growing in front of a wall.

"So what do we do?" Eddie asked Trent, who had his arms crossed in thought.

"Hmmmm… Ok, I think I know how we can avoid that frog and take care of those robots." He said. His teammates sighed with relief. "Jump into my mouth."

"Buh!.?.!" Eddie and Scottie exclaimed, stepping away from the crocodile.

"Have you lost your mind!.?" The chameleon shouted in his normal voice.

"Yeah!" The bee added. "We're not your lunch!"

"I know what I'm doing, mates!" The leader reassured, rolling his eyes. "Just trust me on this. I won't eat ya."

Scottie and Eddie sweatdropped and gave each other apprehensive looks. They gulped as they turned to their leader with a shaky nod.

"Alright." The latter said, getting back into his spooky mode. "You better know what you're doing, mighty leader."

"Please don't swallow us!" The former supplied. Trent just looked to the side exasperatedly.

"Just get in." He said as he opened his jaws wide.

Giving one final gulp, his teammates jumped inside as balls. As they spun around, they each held one of Trent's teeth.

'_I hope this works!_' The croc thought as he reared his head back.

As he took a deep breath, the jewel on his flame ring glowed. He then faced where the coconut pawns were. The reptile then jumped in the air and spat.

"Woah!" Scottie yelped as he was launched out of the leader's mouth.

Due to the flame ring, he was engulfed in fire as he flew towards the robots on the right platform. In almost no time, he crashed into one of the pawns, destroying it. Unfortunately, the other robot activated and chased after the bee. When it got close enough, it repeatedly jabbed at the child. Scottie dodged the bot's repeated strikes.

"Guys! Help!" He screamed as he avoided the robot's attacks.

"Mmmmmmmphhhhh, mmmmmmmmpppphhhh!.!.!" Trent shouted, muffled by Eddie. To the bee, it sounded almost like he said "Hang on."

Scottie flew to the far end of the platform in an attempt to get away from the red robot. Unfortunately, the automaton ran after him! It was almost on top of the bee, getting ready to end it, when Trent finally fired Eddie. The ninja-turned-fireball sailed through the air and rammed into the coconut pawn, knocking it off the platform and down to the forest below.

"Ha! Take that, bringer of doom!" Eddie shouted in his tenebrous voice. He then turned towards the bee, who was huddled over in fear. He held a hand out towards the younger boy. "It's safe now, maker of honey."

"Huh?" Scottie looked up and around. The robot was truly gone. "Yay! You saved me, Mr. Ninja!" He cried happily as he flew up and buzzed around.

As he flew around Eddie, Trent jumped over to the platform and joined his teammates.

"Alright! So far, so good!" He commented.

"Hmph!" The chameleon huffed, crossing his arms. "As long as we never have to do that again."

"Whatever." Trent rolled his eyes. "Let's get moving."

"Hey! What about that robot over there?" Scottie said, pointing ahead at the other platform, where the third coconut pawn was stationed.

"Heh, leave that to me." Eddie answered, taking out a shuriken. With a shrill ninja call, he pitched his weapon. The ninja star zoomed through the air and connected, blowing the metal minion to kingdom come.

"Woah! Good job there!"

"Eh, it was nothing." The ebony one said with a small smirk.

"Let's go, mates. We're wasting time!" Trent ordered.

"Got it!" Both of his teammates agreed.

The trio switched to fly formation and floated over to the yellow platform. Without having to worry about the frog or any enemies, they then went over to the next cliff. Because the mushroom was so close to the edge, the detectives landed on it almost immediately. As soon as Trent's feet came in contact with it, it opened up, shooting the trio twenty or thirty feet up into the air. They overshot the top of the ridge by close to ten feet. At the arch of their jump, all three of them (yes, including Little Scottie) pulled off a lovely Varial. Gravity soon affected them and they managed to land safely.

"Whew…" They all sighed as they got out of formation.

"Hey, that was a pretty sweet move, mate." Trent addressed Little Scottie, who flushed a little.

"Y-you really mean it?" He asked.

"Hmph! I must admit, you'd be a very good skater when you get older, tiny one." Eddie confirmed in his spooky manner as he crossed his arms.

"Yay, yay, yay! I'm gonna be a good skater!" The bee cheered proudly as he again flew around his teammates, who sweatdropped and slapped their foreheads.

"Anyway… We better continue." Trent said, looking ahead.

In front of the trio were a gong and a massive gap. Supposedly, the gong could be used to get across the gap to the road on the other side.

"So now we have to hit this thing…" Eddie pointed at the obstacle.

"Leave it to me, mates!" The leader said.

To be continued…

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Three

The scene opened in the studio. Iggy and I were sitting in the desk. Izzy, however, was nowhere to be found.

"And there ya have it folks!" I started. "What will Trent do to cross the gap? Will the trio get through the remainder of the stage? Find out next time in the final section of this part of the chapter!"

The crowd applauded for a few moments before quieting down.

"Hey, Dad." Iggy said, looking around. "Where's Izzy at?"

"Beats me." I replied with a shrug. I too looked around. "I remember he said something about the produce he got from Mythica, but other than that—"

"FRUIT AND VEGGIE SALE!.!.!" Izzy's voice rang out. It sounded like it came from outside. "GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE RIPE!.!.!"

Iggy and I looked at each other confusedly before running out of the studio. When we got out into the lot, we saw a huge line. It stretched from the studio A's exit to near studio Z, which is a pretty far distance. We both sweatdropped at the sight of the immense line. It was made up of some RP cast members, some of the Glorft, audience members, and Cheese.

"THAT'S RIGHT, FOLKS!.!.! I GOT PRODUCE FOR DIRT CHEAP!.!.!" My partner's voice was heard again.

"Uhhhh…" I gaped as I turned to Iggy. "Could ya take me to the front?"

"Sure thing, Daddy!" The hedgehog exclaimed grabbing my hand.

"WOAH!.!.!" I shouted as he zoomed off, pulling me in the process.

Iggy skated all the way to the front of the line and skidded to a stop. The customers, Izzy, and I coughed and sputtered in the dust cloud the little furry produced. When the dust settled, I laid my eyes upon a makeshift booth. It was basically your classic cartoon lemonade stand. Painted on the sign above the stand were the words, "Fruit and veggies: 5 bucks!" Izzy was standing behind it. Placed behind him was each of the twelve boxes of fruits and vegetables Mythica sent him, as well as several bags of money.

"Boss and Iggy, what an unpleasant surprise." The older Yaoi Brother said as he handed a bag full of fruit to Otto. "If you're buying something, get in back of the line." He added as he accepted a five dollar bill from the ruby hedgehog.

"Thanks, dude!" Said hedgehog thanked as he skated off.

"Next!"

Iggy and I blinked as Cheese floated up to the stand.

"Uhhh… No, thanks. What exactly are ya doing here?" I asked.

"Chao, chao, chao." Cheese ordered.

"So that's two apples and a head of lettuce?" Izzy said, ignoring me.

"Chao!" Cheese shook its head. "Chao, chao!"

"Ohhhh… My mistake. _Five_ apples."

"Chao." The creature nodded.

"Anyway," The hedgehog directed to me as he went to get the chao's order. "What does it look like? There's no way I can eat all these fruit and vegetables by myself."

"Blech! I don't blame ya." Iggy spoke up, sticking out his tongue. "I _hate_ vegetables. Yuck!" He shuddered.

Izzy rolled his eyes as he put Cheese's order into a paper bag that looked to be twice as big as the chao.

"So I'm selling this stuff to make a little extra spending cash." He continued as he walked towards the front of the stand. "Here ya go. That'll be five bucks."

"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked as it produced a five spot and handed it to Izzy.

As soon as the bag was handed to it, the chao came crashing to the ground. Izzy, Iggy, and I sweatdropped.

"Next!" The taller hedgehog shouted. A random audience member walked up to the stand.

"You know," I started, crossing my arms. "I'm not sure if Mythica will appreciate you selling her gift."

"Chill. At least she'll know that they're going to a good cause."

"Yeah, your wallet."

"Damn straight!" He retorted as he handed the customer a bag and got his payment. "Next!"

Sam walked up, _much_ to the displeasure of the hedgehog.

"YOU!.?.!" He roared.

"Yeah, me." The kitsune said, glowering at Izzy.

"Hmph!" He crossed his arms. "And just what is it _you_ want?"

"I'll have a dozen tomatoes." Sam replied, groaning. "My mom heard about your sale and asked me to pick some up for her. Thanks a lot."

"Heh, happy to oblige." Izzy said, sticking his tongue out. "Anything to cause you misery and woe."

The fox's glare intensified as the hedgehog went to grab his rival's order.

"Hi Sammy-Sam!" Iggy exclaimed, waving at him. "How're you liking the fic!.?"

"You know exactly how I've been liking it." Sam answered, turning to him. "I've never vomited more in all my life."

"Heh." I shrugged. "Sorry, but you know how hard it is to find a stunt double that has the same err…build that you have. Besides, we'd waste way too much time using your double every few seconds."

The fox rolled his eyes as Izzy returned, holding a paper bag with one hand. His other one was behind his back.

"Here ya go." He said, handing it to Sam. "That'll be five bucks, big boy."

Sam, Iggy, and I glared at him as the yellow one grabbed the bag and slapped the money into his rival's hand.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Izzy said as Sam started to walk off.

"What?" The fox asked, turning towards him. Izzy snickered as he brought his other hand to view. Clutched in it was a tomato.

"Here. An extra one on the house!"

I'm sure you can guess what happened next, but just in case…

°SPLAT!°

"Ugh!" Sam grunted as he wiped the fruit's juices off his face.

"Yes! Got 'im!" Izzy cheered as he pumped a fist. "Next!" He added as Iggy and I shook our heads exasperatedly.

"Ya know what they say about bad karma, right?" I asked as my partner went to fill out his latest order.

"Yeah right!" He scoffed.

"Hey, big bro, I just noticed something." Iggy started. "Why haven't ya sold any pineapples?"

I blinked and looked at Izzy's inventory. All of the different fruits and vegetables he got were in individual piles. While most of his other merchandise was steadily dwindling to nothing, there was a mountain of pineapples nearby.

"How should I know?" Izzy replied as he handed a bag to the customer. "I've had this thing open since the start of this section of this part of the chapter and nobody's bought even _one_ pineapple! I swear, I'm gonna give them all to the next person that walks by!"

"Every last one?" Iggy asked.

"Ya heard me! Every last one!"

I snickered evilly.

"_That_ can be arranged."

The Yaoi Brothers blinked as I snapped my fingers. Nothing had happened, however.

"Huh?" Both siblings asked.

"Give it time." I answered with a devilish smirk.

A few minutes passed before none other than Keoni the Cat skated by the booth. The sound of a screeching car was heard as a dust cloud appeared where Izzy was seconds earlier. Iggy, I, and all of Izzy's customers blinked and turned to our left. The hedgehog in question was standing in front of Keoni.

"Uhhh… Hey Izzy. What can I do for ya, cuz?" The cat asked.

He put on a confused look as Izzy zoomed back to his booth. He sweatdropped as the hedgehog returned, carrying all of the pineapples he received from Mythica.

"Here." Izzy started, dropping the pieces of fruit in front of the feline. "Nobody'll buy these so I'm giving them to ya free of charge."

"Me?" Keoni blinked, pointing at himself.

"Yeah." The hedgehog crossed his arms. "I have no use for 'em, so they're yours. Enjoy."

"I-I-I don't know what to say…" The cat said, blushing slightly. Izzy gave him a weirded out look.

"Uhhh… How about thanks?"

"Well yeah, thanks for the pineapples, but what I really mean to say is yes! I accept!"

"Buh?" Izzy gulped, noticing the strange look in Keoni's eyes. It was almost like he was. Like he was in LOVE!.?.! "Wh-what are y-y-you talking about?" He asked, backing away.

"I mean that yes, I'll marry you!.!.!"

"**MARRY!.?.!**" Izzy, Iggy, and I exclaimed, looking at each other.

"Well of course!" We turned back to Keoni, who had a seriously lovey-dovey look in his eyes. He ran up to Izzy and grabbed his hands before the hedgehog could even run. "Uncle Tito once told me that it's an ancient Hawaiian tradition that when someone presents a great amount of pineapples, it's a proposal of marriage." He embraced a seriously freaked out Izzy. "And while I wish we were a little older, I happily accept your proposal."

The hedgehog glared at me.

"Don't look at me!" I defended, holding my hands up. "I had no clue that was a Hawaiian tradition when I decided to make him appear!"

"I'll destroy you when I get my hands on you." He hissed, his glare never wavering. "But for now…" He wrestled out of Keoni's grip and skated off. "There's no way I'm marrying you! We agreed The Runaway meant nothing! NOTHING!.!.!"

"Aw come on, brah!" Keoni shouted, skating after him with hearts in his eyes. "We have to plan the wedding!"

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE!.!.!"

Iggy and I sweatdropped as we watched the cat chase the hedgehog out of the complex. When they left our sight, we turned to each other.

"Yay! Izzy's getting married!" Iggy cheered, jumping up and down while clapping. "I can't wait to take pictures! I wonder what the kids will look like!"

I gave him a weirded out look.

"But they're both…" I blinked and held my chin. "Hmmm… Actually, that's not a bad idea…" I shrugged before grinning at the camera. "Oh well. I warned him about his bad karma. See ya next time!"

I waved at the camera as it irised out on Izzy and Keoni, who were skating into the horizon.


	18. Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs! Pt 1, 3

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Four

The scene opened inside a trailer. There were all sorts of great furniture and appliances around, as well as different pictures and photographs. In the kitchen area, there were a table and a sink, as well as the other conveniences of home. In the living room, which had a TV and a large sofa as well as other comforts, Iggy and I were sitting on the sofa.

"Hey there!" I said, waving at the camera. "We're currently inside one of the airflow trailers provided by the studio."

"Ahhhhh…" Iggy sighed, feeling the cold air from the AC blow his quills back. His face was right in front of it. "This is so cool, Daddy! I want one of these for myself!"

"Why would you need it?" I asked with a shrug. "When our own studio is rebuilt, you'll have a room to sleep in again. You won't need a trailer."

"But I want one, Daddy!" The hedgehog whined, turning to me with teary (and slightly frozen) eyes. "Pwease, can I have one!.?"

"Fine, fine…" I sighed. "I can't stand it when you do the puppy dog look."

"Yay!" Iggy cheered, punching the air. "I'm gonna get my own trailer!"

I rolled my eyes and propped my head on a hand. "I wonder where Izzy is…"

Elsewhere…

"I swear, I'm gonna kill the boss!.!.!" Izzy screamed as he frantically skated away from a love struck Keoni.

"Come on, Izzy! Don't deny our love!.!.!" The cat shouted, skating after him with his arms held out in front of him.

Back in the trailer…

"Eh." I shrugged. I turned to the camera as I grabbed a piece of paper out of my pocket. "In any case, let's get to the reviewer responses!" I read over the paper for a few moments before gasping.

"Woah! That war sounds pretty intense, Warior! Here's hoping ya get things under control." I looked over the paper again. "And to Mike, it's a surprise." I winked at the camera. "The client's identity will be revealed soon enough. And about Izzy…" I shrugged. "I have no clue what happened to him. He went out for a little skate a few hours ago and he still hasn't—"

°SLAM!°

"Huh?.?.?" Iggy and I said.

We looked towards the trailer's door and saw a panting Izzy. He was leaning against the door fearfully. We then heard Keoni's voice calling his name. A few seconds of silence passed he sighed with relief.

"Whew… Safe…"

Just then, the door was slammed open, crushing the dark hedgehog against the wall of the trailer. Iggy and I cringed at the scene when we noticed Keoni step inside.

"Hey, have you cuzzes seen that hunk of hedgehog, Izzy?" He asked.

"Well actually—MMPH!" I had slapped my hand over Iggy's mouth. I chuckled nervously as I turned to the cat.

"Nope. Ya just missed him. Sorry."

"Awwww…" Keoni groaned, his ears drooping. He then grabbed the door handle as he got ready to leave. "Izzy-Wizzy! Where are ya, brah!.?"

He skated out, closing the door in the process. Izzy, flat as a pancake, pushed himself off the wall and drifted slowly to the floor. Iggy and I blinked as we watched him stick his thumb in his mouth and blow until he was inflated again. Tiny little Keonis skated around his head as his eyes spun around dizzily.

"Ugh…" He groaned, shaking his head. The cats disappeared. "I never wanna go through that again…"

"Hey, I was wondering where you were." I commented, waving at him. The hedgehog looked up with a cold glare and stood up.

"You!" He hissed. "When I get my hands on you—"

"Chill bro. We still have to finish the response." Iggy said. Izzy growled at him as he walked over to the armchair in the room. He sat down, pouting as he crossed his arms.

"Anyway…" I said, looking at the paper again. "Yeah, we're really enjoying everything the studio has to offer us. I hope that fic you're filming is going well. I can't wait to take a look at it!"

"Same here!" The energetic hedgehog cheered. He then blinked. "Hey, if it takes place in Hawaii, does that mean Keoni is gonna be in it?"

I shrugged. "It's a good possibility."

"Ahhhhh… Keoni…" Izzy sighed lovingly. Iggy and I sweatdropped BIG time!

"This coming from the one who _doesn't_ want to marry him?" I asked slyly.

"Hey! It's one thing to be with him, but it's quite another to be _married_! I don't wanna be tied down yet!" He blinked when he realized his lost face and glared at us. "And I have no feelings for him! I'm straight!"

"Whatever…" Iggy and I sighed. I then turned to the camera.

"Finally, Mike, I'd love to mind the fort for as long as possible, but my new studio should be completed soon and—"

I was cut off by a huge explosion. I and the two hedgehogs ran over to the nearest window and saw a mushroom cloud float into the air far beyond the wall of the studio. All three of us sweatdropped as we faced each other.

"Was that what I _think_ it was, Daddy?" Iggy asked.

"Most likely…" Izzy and I said with exasperated sighs.

"At this rate it'll never get rebuilt, Boss." The former said.

"I know, I know…" I sighed, holding my head. "I'm gonna have a talk with those contractors." I turned to the camera. "But in the meantime, let's get to business! We're at the final section for the first part of chapter eleven! Will Team Sherlock be able to finish the stage in one piece? Find out now!"

We all waved at the camera as it whited out.

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Rocket Heroes

Chapter Eleven

Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs!

Part One-Three

Trent grabbed his teammates and, against their will, stuffed them into his mouth. He then punched the gong, causing it to spin up, over, and right into the croc's back. He was launched over the gap and towards the other side. Because there was a speed formation gate right there, the trio switched to speed formation as soon as they landed. Everybody then skidded to a stop.

"Aw yuck!.!.!" Both the chameleon and bee exclaimed. A strange liquid was dripping from their clothes.

"Aw man…" Scottie started, ringing out his shirt.

"Crocodile drool…" Eddie finished, doing the same thing to his cloak. He gasped when he realized that the black paint covering his body was dripping onto the ground. Brown streaks decorated his body as he turned to Trent with a murderous glare. "What's your problem!.?.! Next time you're gonna pull something like that, WARN US!.!.!".

"Yeah! What he said!" The younger boy buzzed angrily. The crocodile sweatdropped and held his hands up in defense.

"Sorry about that, mates!" He defended. "There was no other way to get over that huge grade without leaving you two behind, honest!"

The two smaller ones glared and growled at him for a few moments before relaxing.

"Whatever…" The chameleon said, turning away with his arms crossed. He then looked over his shoulder with a glower. "But you're gonna pay for my dry cleaning when we get through this forest!"

"Yeah! I want my shirt cleaned too!" The bee added. Trent gulped and nodded.

"Alright, alright. I'll take care of laundry. But can we _please_ get back to the mission?" He asked, holding his hands together.

"Hmph!" Both boys replied, turning away from him.

"Fine. Let's move." Eddie grunted.

Wiping the remaining drool from their bodies, the insect and smaller reptile skated/flew down a steep hill, followed by their leader. As they skated, a small trail of black paint formed behind them. When they reached the bottom of the hill, Scottie let out a gasp.

"Woah! What a big loop!"

Up ahead was a gigantic, three-lane loop-de-loop. Flowers, vines, and other forms of vegetation covered it.

"Everybody split up!" Eddie ordered.

"Got it!" Trent and Scottie replied as they reached the base of the loop.

The chameleon went up the middle lane, Scottie took the left one, and Trent skated up the right one. Just as they all went upside down, they all hit an item bubble containing a power core.

"Level-up!" They all exclaimed as their bodies glowed in their respective colors. They then left the loop and joined up again.

"Wow! That was lucky, huh?.!" The insect shouted.

"Yeah. Looks like things are certainly turning around for us." The crocodile agreed as the path widened out considerably.

"Hmph, we'll see about that." The chameleon said in his spooky demeanor as they continued skating.

The trio went on for a few seconds before hitting a boost pad. The treadmill-like device sent them up a giant loop. The group hit a couple more, sending them up two more loops, before entering a valley. Scottie looked around at his surroundings before gasping.

"We gotta stop!" He yelled, flying in front of Eddie, who skidded to a stop.

"Woah!" Trent shouted, not being able to stop fast enough. He bumped into Eddie, who collided into Little Scottie in a spectacular crash. The landed in a heap on the floor.

"Ugh…" They all groaned as they sat up. Trent and Eddie sent the bee a death glare.

"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT, YA LITTLE—!.!.!"

"Shhhhhh!.!.!" He shushed, covering their mouths, which was a hard feat due to Trent's snout. "There are froggies here!" He hissed. The two reptiles blinked as Scottie released them.

"Huh?"

They were silenced again, but not by the bee. The sound of not one, not two, but _three_ croaks was heard! The older boys felt the color draining from their scales as they looked around themselves.

On two ridges on their left and right sides were two frogs. There was one more a few feet in front of them. It was anybody's guess why it didn't start raining. The detectives huddled close to each other as they tried to think of something. They sweated profusely.

"We're surrounded!" Eddie whispered.

"We gotta do something!" Scottie added frightfully.

"E-E-E-Eddie…" Trent started with a gulp. "M-m-m-make us invisible."

"Alright." The ninja nodded. "Hold on tight."

The others gave him a look that said "Duh!" Eddie sweatdropped.

"Uhhh… Right."

Like a few minutes earlier, the chameleon used his Leaf Whirl attack to make him and his comrades invisible to the giant frogs. As soon as the whirlwind died down and the leaves fell, the trio moved as fast as they can through the valley. Eddie panted heavily as he felt the heavy strain of his extended invisibility.

"Come on, Mr. Ninja… We're almost there…" Scottie encouraged as they neared the frog in front of them.

"Yeah. Just a few more seconds, mate…" Trent added as they crept closer.

"Ugh… I can't…hold it!" Eddie moaned. The others' eyes widened.

"Scottie, run for it!" Trent ordered as he lifted the ninja over his head. Scottie hung on as the leader skated past the frog.

They passed the amphibian and hit a boost pad just as Eddie's invisibility wore off. The trio was sent towards a mushroom, which shot them up a wall until they landed on a platform. Trent let the younger reptile down and panted.

"Oh man… That was…close…" He breathed, kneeling.

"Yeah… No…kidding…" Scottie added, slumping onto the ground.

"Ugh… I want this insane mission to end!" Eddie shouted in his normal voice as he stood straight up. He then pulled down his mask. "Come, noble warriors! We must continue onwards!"

The others gave him an irritated look as they got to their feet.

"You're…crazy…" The youngest member of the group commented.

"You know… I agree with him…" The oldest member said. The masked one rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Let's just go." He retorted in his normal voice. The others groaned before continuing on.

Noticing a large gap between the platform they were on and the next cliff, the trio switched to fly formation. Scottie lifted them over to the small platform, which had a spring bar lying against a wall. The group bounced off it and were sent up…past a frog! Thankfully, the huge animal's back was facing them. All three of them wiped their sweaty foreheads.

"Yikes!" Scottie yelped.

"Ugh! That was way too close for comfort!" Trent exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Stupid blasted frogs…" Eddie muttered. He then shouted, "Hang on!"

With those words, he used Leaf Whirl in mid-air, surrounding him, Trent, and Little Scottie in a vortex of wind and dead leaves. Once they were invisible, they landed right behind the frog. Minding the "prince's" stamina, the bee quickly slipped past it and flew over to another platform. Right in front of them was the next checkpoint. Eddie ended his invisibility when he got out of formation and grabbed the checkpoint, giving him his second level-up.

"I wonder how much further we are from the forest's exit…" He said to himself as the red glow faded.

"Who knows? We gotta keep moving!" Trent told him as he jumped to another platform that was ahead of them. The others quickly followed him.

When they landed on the platform, the detectives noticed that their path seemed to split in two. To their right, over a gap, was a platform that had a giant purple flower growing out of it along a wall. Previous encounters with this unique breed of plant life (like in that city's power plant) told them that it can be used to travel along the forest. To the left, also across a gap, was another platform. On this one were an item bubble and a gong, which seemed to lead them onward.

"We better take the left platform." The croc advised. "Let's go, Scottie!"

"Ok!" The bee replied.

The trio switched to fly formation and hovered over to the far off platform. Before they landed, Trent kicked the item bubble, causing an orange glow to envelope him.

"Alright! That was a power core!" He exclaimed as they got out of formation.

"Good for you." Eddie said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He then pointed at the gong. "Can we hurry up and hit this thing?"

"Fine with me. You guys know the drill." Trent replied, opening his mouth.

"Not again!" Both Eddie and Scottie groaned.

"You wanna get out of this forest, right? Then get in my mouth!" The oldest member of the trio ordered. The younger boys gave another moan of protest before jumping into their leader's jaws.

As they started spinning around, Trent moved to the gong and punched it. The strange machine knocked the trio over to a tiny platform that had a mushroom on it. The fungus knocked them upwards. The detectives soared towards another platform that had a second mushroom on it. They hit it and were sent towards a third platform. When they landed, the leader allowed his teammates to climb out of his mouth.

"Whew! That was a fun ride!" Scottie cheered. "Let's do it again!"

"NO!.!.!" Eddie shouted. "Let's not!"

"Aw! What a grouch!"

"Watch it…" The caped one growled.

"C'mon! We gotta keep going!" Trent ordered.

Switching to speed formation, the trio jumped to a platform that was to their right. In the middle of it was a strange-looking flower. It seemed to consist of two sections. The vine sticking out of the ground and a handle, which was connected to the flower which had its petals spread out in a peculiar position. Nearby was a hint ring.

"What do you think this is about, mates?" Trent asked, holding his snout in confusion.

"Perhaps that hint ring will assist us." Eddie said in his scary demeanor.

"I'll take a look!" Scottie yelled happily, grabbing the hint ring. In a puff of smoke, a piece of paper appeared in his hand.

Before he can start reading it however, the chameleon snatched it out of his hands.

"Hey!" The bee protested. "I wanted to read that!"

"Like you'd understand it." The "prince" scoffed before looking at the hint.

On the first panel of the comic were the detectives, who were drawn with crayons. They were standing in front of the mysterious flower with question marks over their heads, indicating their confusion. The second panel showed the caped ninja using his Leaf Whirl technique over the flower. The third panel showed half of the flower floating in the air. Curvy lines were drawn around the petals to show that they were spinning. The final panel showed the trio soaring above the forest while hanging on to the plant's handle.

"Uhhhh… I guess we can make this thing fly?" Eddie said in his normal voice as he handed the sheet to Trent. The leader looked over the comic for a few moments before nodding in agreement.

"Ok, go for it, but remember—"

"I know, I know! Make myself visible so that you two can grab on! I got it!" The younger one said irritably. "Get ready!"

He stepped up to the flower and used his wind technique. As soon as the whirlwind was created, the petals on the flower began to spin. Almost immediately after, it floated in the air. Before it could fly away, Eddie became visible and grabbed the handle. Scottie grabbed his legs and Trent grabbed _his_. The trio then flew over the trees below.

"Wow! Cool view!" Scottie exclaimed, looking down.

"Yeah. It's certainly breathtaking." Trent agreed.

"Ugh! I'm glad you two are enjoying the—ugh!—ride…" Eddie panted nastily.

The detectives swayed and swung around as the helicopter-like flower flew them towards a structure that looked like the strange, beehive-like thing they saw earlier. Surrounding the column it was on was a grindable vine. Floating near the entrance to the "hive" was a balloon. Just before they hovered over the entrance, Trent popped it, causing Eddie to glow red.

"_Finally!_ That was my last level-up!" He shouted impatiently.

"Ok everybody let go!" Trent said, letting go.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeee!.!.!" Scottie screamed as he followed suit.

Eddie sweatdropped as he saw his teammates fall into the strange cave.

"Oh well. Geronimo!" He yelled, letting go.

All three of them fell down the deep cave. As they fell, all sorts of pollen and moss passed them. When they hit the bottom, they landed on a boost pad, which sent them outside to a jump pad. Trent and Eddie pulled off a quick 360° spin as they fell towards a vine.

"Woah! Don't fall!" Scottie yelped as they landed on it.

"Duh!" The reptiles shouted at him as they grinded down it.

As they danced down the living rail (You know, it's a plant, so technically, it's alive), it curved to the left, then the right, then the left again (Confusing, isn't it?)!

They were nearing the next platform when Eddie gasped seeing their next obstacle.

Three frogs were stationed right where the rail ended!

'_We gotta do something!_' He thought, looking around himself. He spied another vine that ended at a jump. He smirked as an idea came to him.

"Come, my fellows! Jump onto the ivy over yonder!" He ordered in his gloomy voice.

"Huh?" The others looked at him strangely. Eddie quickly pulled up his mask.

"Jump on that vine before those frogs can see us!"

"Ohhhhh…" They nodded.

They hopped onto the other vine and danced to build up speed. When they reached the jump, all three of them soared over the frogs while pulling off a Misty Flip. The amphibians didn't even notice them. They sighed with relief as they landed far behind the croaking trio.

"Whew… That was a close one…" Trent panted.

"Yeah…" Scottie breathed.

"At least…the worst is…behind us…" Eddie supplied.

"_Kill._"

"Huh?" All three detectives looked up and gasped.

On the ridge above them was a squad of coconut pawns! They all pointed their guns at the trio and prepared to fire.

"Ahhhh!.!.! What are we gonna do!.?.!" Scottie yelled.

"We gotta fight them!" Trent shouted, holding up a fist.

"Huh?" Eddie said, hearing a slight beeping noise. He looked at his watch and grinned. "Hey! Our Team Blast meter is filled!"

"What? How?" Scottie asked.

"Don't worry about it! Just get your instruments ready!" Trent ordered, pulling out his microphone. "Team Blast: Sherlock Concert!"

Scottie and Eddie pulled out their drum and guitar respectively. The bee pounded on his drum as the chameleon played a few quick riffs. The crocodile took a deep breath as he prepared to sing. Their eyes widening, his partners paused to put earplugs on the sides of their heads.

"LIVE AND LEARN!" Trent belted out in his "lovely" singing voice. "HANGING ON TO THE EDGE OF TOMORROW! LIVE AND LEARN! FROM THE WORKS OF YESTERDAY!.!.!"

As the group continued their song, the robots' bodies started to crack. Electricity sparked from every crevice. They all shook and trembled for a few moments before exploding, sending parts and screws flying. As they finished their song, the detectives took a bow, put their instruments away, and continued on.

"So how _did_ the meter fill, anyway?" Trent asked as they jumped onto the ridge. Eddie shrugged in response.

"I guess that trick we pulled off just before landing must have done it." He replied as they put away their instruments.

"Well, at least we're safe for now." The leader sighed as they walked/flew forward.

"Come on! We gotta keep moving!" Scottie shouted. The others nodded in response before moving on.

Ahead of them was a gong that seemed to lead over a gap to another platform. Eddie and Scottie jumped into Trent's mouth as the crocodile hit the machine. The trio was propelled to the platform, which contained several coconut pawns and a golden turtle bot. They tore through the robots almost instantly with a combination of their signature attacks. Trent knocked the shields off the pawns by launching Little Scottie at them, leaving them open to a shuriken shower courtesy of Eddie. The chameleon used his Leaf Whirl attack to flip over the turtle, allowing Trent to make the final blow by pounding its underside.

Once they were finished, the group jumped onto the platform's plateau. There was another one of those helicopter flowers nearby, but that meant nothing to them at the moment. They then gasped at the sight in front of them.

"Woah! That's the biggest mushroom I've ever seen!" Scottie exclaimed in awe.

"Amazing…" Eddie added in the same tone.

In front of the detectives was one of the giant mushrooms growing in the forest. From their viewpoint, it might as well have been a small mountain. From what they could tell, there were several platforms on it as well as some swings and robots. It was almost as if it was a small colony.

"Wow! Who knew they had mushrooms _this_ huge!.?" Trent shouted.

(Me: Like I said six chapters ago, you guys have never left Ocean Shores, so you don't know what the rest of the world is like. Continue.)

"Anyway, it looks like we can use that flower again." Eddie said, facing the plant.

"Make it fly, fly, fly, Mr. Ninja!" Scottie cheered. "Fly little flower!"

The older boys groaned.

"I hope we're almost done with this stage… He's giving me a headache…" The chameleon said, slumping forward.

"Just ignore him, mate, and get that flower flying." Trent said in a tone that suggested he agreed with him. Eddie nodded and turned towards the flower.

After using Leaf Whirl to get the flower flying, the trio grabbed on and rode it towards the titanic mushroom. As they moved around, they popped several balloons, all containing various amounts of rings. They soon landed on a platform, which had a checkpoint on it. There were also several swings floating in front of them. Being the only one who hasn't been fully leveled up yet, Scottie grabbed it, giving him his second increase in strength.

"Ok Scottie, swing us over to the next platform!" Trent ordered. The bee turned to him and saluted.

"Got it, sir!"

Everybody switched to fly formation and went towards the closest swing. Remembering the crocodile's earlier advice to Eddie, he let go of the swing as soon as they reached their highest point. He did this two more times before reaching the platform, which was littered with robots…and a frog!

"You're kidding!" Trent groaned.

"Keep moving!" Eddie roared to Scottie.

He enveloped them in a whirlwind, allowing them to become invisible again. The bee flew past the robots and frog before flying towards another swing. When they let go of it, they landed on a winding platform that was swarming with more frogs. The trio gasped when they saw the goal ring spinning at the end of the path.

"Yes! At long last we can end this stage!" Trent said. "Eddie, can you hold it for a few more seconds?"

"Ugh! Yes, but hurry!.!.!" Eddie replied with a grunt.

"Got it!" The croc looked up at the bee. "Scottie, let me take the lead."

"Alright!" The bug replied.

Maintaining their contact, the trio switched to power formation. The younger animals jumped into Trent's mouth, allowing the croc to skate past all the frogs and grab on to the ring, ending the stage.

"We did it!" He shouted, spitting out his teammates in triumph.

"Ugh… Not again…" Eddie groaned. He was covered in saliva.

"Hey, I just thought of something." Scottie said. "If the client is like a million miles away, how would he know if we let a frog see us or not?"

The others gave him a wide-eyed look.

"You know… You got a point there." Trent said. "And how do we even know if those frogs can make it rain by croaking?.!"

"Well, let's see…" Eddie trailed off, skating towards the closest frog.

As soon as it saw him, a loud croak filled the air. Seconds later, clouds gathered in the sky above and a downpour started, drenching the detectives. Eddie, glowering in exasperation, growled dangerously as the remaining paint on his body washed off, creating a puddle of darkness at his feet. Trent took off his helmet and let the water wash away the sweat that he had produced during their journey. Scottie, meanwhile, was dancing in the rain.

Suddenly, Trent's radio crackled.

"_You're lucky you just finished your mission!_" The voice of the client was heard. "_Otherwise, I would've docked your pay for this one! Now get moving! There's a swamp nearby. Go there now._"

Gaping, Trent pulled out his radio.

"Got it…" He simply said before putting it away.

"H-h-h-h-he couldn't of…!" Eddie said, baffled.

"But h-h-how did he…?" Scottie started just as confused.

They fell over, getting mud all over them.

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Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Five

"Whew! I thought we'd never get done with this part of the chapter!" I said, wiping my forehead as I turned to the camera. "Anyway, it seems that Team Sherlock has made it through the stage with no problem. The question now is can they survive the rest of their journey? Who knows? In the next part of the chapter, we're going to take a look at Team Rodriguez. Can they make it through the next stage? Tune in next time!"

"So Izzy," Iggy started, smirking slightly. "When's the wedding?"

°WHAM!°

"What the hell?.!" The older brother roared, putting away his mallet. "I told ya I'm not marrying him!"

"Ow…" The shorter hedgehog moaned, stumbling around while holding his head.

"Heh, coulda fooled me." I said, crossing my arms with a smirk of my own. "After all, you _did_ give him all those pineapples."

"You want some of this too!.?.!" Izzy shouted, pulling out his mallet again.

"So if ya don't want to get married, why don't ya just tell him it was all a big misunderstanding?"

"Tried it." He groaned, holding his head. "It was a disaster."

°°Flashback°°

_It was the night before. Keoni and Izzy were sitting in a table at a fancy French restaurant. The cat had invited the hedgehog over because he had to tell him something important. As a matter of fact, Izzy had something he wanted to say to his fiancé as well._

_"Keoni," He started as the waiter left to take care of their orders. "I have something to tell you."_

_"Yes?" Keoni asked, looking into the hedgehog's eyes with a stare full of love and compassion. "What is it, my groom to be?"_

_The hedgehog shuddered at that, but retained his composure. He cleared his throat as he prepared to speak. What he had to say wasn't going to be easy. After all, he didn't want to break the cat's heart._

_"Y-y-y-you see…" He started shakily. "When I gave you those pineapples, I only meant—"_

_"Oh! I almost forgot!" The shorter furry interrupted. "I have something for you."_

_He stood up and walked to Izzy's side of the table. To the hedgehog's embarrassment, rage, and somewhat (SOMEWHAT, MIND YOU!) happiness, he presented Izzy with a small square box. The taller purple one felt his cheeks go red as Keoni opened the box to reveal a large diamond ring, grabbed his left hand, and slipped it on his ring finger._

_"I know you proposed to me a few days ago, but I felt I had to do it as well."_

_Izzy blinked. "Why's that?"_

_"Well, you know…" The cat started shyly, the fur on his face going red. "We're both guys and the usual tradition is to ummm…" He trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. Izzy sweatdropped, knowing what he was getting at._

_"My, how…nice to you are to respect tradition…" He said with a slight hint of sarcasm. Keoni, not catching it, grinned toothily._

_"You really think so?.!" He asked anxiously. Izzy, slightly freaked out, nodded numbly in response. The Hawaiian's grin widened. "So anyway, will you do me the honor of having your hand in marriage?"_

_"Uhhhhhhhhhh…" The hedgehog stuttered, his eyes widening. _

_What was he supposed to say!.?.! He didn't want to get married! It was all a mistake! But he didn't want to hurt the other boy's feelings. Sweat poured down the sides of his head in sheets as he tried to think of some way out of this mess. He looked around for any kind of escape route. He looked around for a few moments, catching all the stares of the other patrons who stopped eating their meals in order to witness this momentous event of love in the boys' relationship. His eyes soon rested on Keoni's, which were full of understanding, happiness, and patience. Izzy gulped._

_"K-K-K-Keoni…?"_

_"Yes, my beautiful pincushion?"_

_Izzy stopped shaking and gave him a weirded out look._

_'**Pincushion? Did he just think that up or what?**' He thought before remembering the situation. He started trembling again as he stuttered to say something._

_"I-I-I-I say… I say…"_

_"Yes…?" Keoni's eyes became even more full of love, if that was even possible._

_"I-I-I say…" He blinked and snatched his hand away. "We're too young! Give it a few years, man!"_

_With that, he skated out of the restaurant at warp speed. Keoni stood up, dusted himself off and looked at the other people. He chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head._

_"Heh, heh… Pre-wedding fright." He said, pointing a thumb in the direction Izzy went with a cheesy grin. He then skated after him. "Izzy-brah! It's alright to say we love each other!"_

°°End Flashback°°

"Ugh… That was the most embarrassing night of my life…" Izzy moaned, covering his eyes as he leaned back against the armchair.

"Well, what about that one time ya lost against Sammy-Sam, bro?" Iggy asked. The older sibling glared and growled at him.

"Well, at least you lost him for now." I offered with a shrug.

°SLAM!°

"What the…?.?.?" We looked over at the door to see, to our surprise, a totally lovey-dovey Keoni. We sweatdropped when we noticed the somewhat insane grin he had, not to mention the fishing rod he was holding.

"Izzy! I found you!"

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!" The hedgehog in question screamed, getting up to run.

Before he even had the chance to move, the cat cast his rod and brought it forward. Instantly, the string soared through the air and wrapped itself around Izzy's body.

"Ugh!" He grunted, struggling to get out. He continued trying to get out for a few seconds before he faced his fiancé with a smirk. "Ha! This piece of twine won't hold me!"

He then rolled into a ball and began to spin around. He spun for a few moments before stopping and stumbling around dizzily. The string remained uncut.

"That twine's reinforced with pure diamond. There's no way you can cut outta that." Keoni explained. Iggy and I sweatdropped.

"Woah… Talk about persistent." I commented.

"Yeah… Good thing he doesn't like _me_ that way…" Iggy agreed, shuddering.

"Now come on. We got planning to do." Keoni said, dragging Izzy out of the trailer.

"Nooooooooooooooooooo!.!.!" He screamed, struggling to get away.

When the two "lovebirds" were gone, Iggy and I turned to the camera.

"Well _that_ was kinda expected." I said. "See ya next time!"

"And don't forget to review!" Iggy added, waving wildly.


	19. Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs! Pt 2, 1

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Six

The scene opened in the studio in front of a fully packed audience. They cheered and screamed as the band onstage played, announcing our arrival. Seconds later, Izzy, Iggy, and I were carried onstage by the Glorft. We were sitting in comfortable chairs that were built into a huge plank of wood. The aliens grunted and moaned as they lifted us to the center of the stage. When the squid faces finally reached center stage, they lowered us, rather roughly mind you, and walked off. We dusted ourselves off as we stood.

"Ugh… Bunch of idiots…" Izzy muttered.

"Augh… Did they have to drop us like that!.?" Iggy moaned, rubbing his butt.

"Wait until later…" I growled, looking offstage. I then regained my usual expression as I turned to the camera. "Anyway, long time no see, folks! It's been _way_ too long since our last update!"

"No kidding." Izzy grunted, crossing his arms. "It's about time ya posted _something_!"

"But Daddy _did_ post something, bro." Iggy corrected. "Don't tell me ya forgot that April Fools fic!"

"Believe me, I wish I could forget that story…" The older hedgehog groaned, turning to me. "That was the worst piece of dribble ya ever wrote!.!.!" I merely rolled my eyes at that.

"Now where have I heard _that_ one before?" I remarked, causing him to growl at me. "Anyway, that fic was so sublime, so perfect! I can't believe I tricked so many people! Hahahahahahaha!.!.!" I held my sides as I laughed. Iggy joined in soon after. Izzy, meanwhile, sweatdropped at the scene.

"Oh wow… Three people… That's _really_ impressive." He said sarcastically. I stifled my giggles and shrugged at him.

"Eh, that's a lot in my book, considering how often I get feedback." I faced the audience. "In any case, let's get on to the reviewer responses!"

The crowd cheered as I pulled out a piece of paper. I read over it for a couple of moments before looking up again.

"First to Mythica…" I raised an eyebrow. "_Shadow_ sent those pineapples?.?.?"

"WHAT!.?.!" Izzy roared, snatching the paper out of my hands. His eyes flared up as he read the review. His quills lit up in flames as he shoved it back to me. Iggy, who had stopped laughing, and I gulped as the elder sibling stomped around the stage. "WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM, HE'S GONNA BE THE ULTIMATE BLOODY PULP!.!.!"

As he continued to storm around, I looked at the review sheet again.

"Anyway, so you're moving eh?" I gave the camera a thumbs-up. "Hope ya enjoy wherever it is that you're moving to!" I read over the paper. "And to Warior, woah! That little scene was really action packed! If you can do something like this with a review, I can't wait to see what you're gonna do when ya continue your Sonic Heroes adaptation!"

I read a little further and felt my eyes bulge in fear.

"No way!.!.! The Glorft and those other aliens that betrayed ya were the ones that blew up my studio!.?.!"

Immediately after that, I heard cheers erupting from offstage. Putting on an exasperated look, I snapped my fingers. The Glorft screamed in pain as the smell of dead skin wafted through the air.

"Ahhhh… That's better." Iggy said with a smile. I nodded in agreement before holding my chin.

"Hmmmm… If those guys blew up my studio, thinking that we were still inside, they could come _here_!"

The audience gasped at that.

"Oh no! What'll we do, Daddy!.?.!" Iggy panicked.

"Don't worry, I have an idea." I replied, turning to the freaked out audience. "While we try to deal with this, enjoy this part of the chapter! Like I said in our last installment, we're following Team Rodriguez as they travel through the Lost Jungle. Will they survive? Read on!"

Iggy and I waved as the crowd applauded shakily.

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Rocket Heroes

Chapter Eleven

Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs!

Part Two-One

**Stage Ten: Lost Jungle**

**Mission****: Venture through the deepest part of the jungle!**

We open this part of the chapter deep in the Florida Everglades, a marshy land completely untouched by the rest of the world. This mysterious realm where only certain species of plants and reptiles thrive is where the next leg of our heroes' quest takes place. The paths have been carved by the numerous patches of swamp water, creating a musty, humid maze. The sky was misty and full of dew, as if it can rain at any moment. The—

"GET ON WITH IT!.!.!" Our heroes roared.

(Me: God! Can't I spend a few minutes setting the mood!.?.! Jeeze!)

Anyway, Clio, Keoni, and Mackenzie grinded down a single vine suspended over some water with Cheese flying right behind them. The hedgehog was in front of the group. Their air skates (SOAP shoes in the rabbit's case) stuck on the plant with no problem. They seemed to be exhausted as well as dripping wet.

"Man! That cross country trip was crazy!" Clio exclaimed.

"Yeah! Those stupid frogs got me all wet!" Mackenzie shouted in her usual manner. "They stink on ice!.!.!" She rung out her ears, causing droplets to fall out.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked in agreement.

"Hey, speaking of frogs, do ya think Froggy's in this place, cuzzes?" Keoni spoke up.

The vine dipped a bit, just barely staying above the water.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Clio said with a shrug. "There are enough frogs here as it is."

"Hey! Why don't ya just take one of these lame-o frogs and just go home!.?" Mackenzie yelled, looking back at the cat. Keoni crossed his arms, miraculously keeping his balance, and glared at her.

"Are you crazy!.? I can't just replace Froggy! He's my brah!" He protested. "We bonded! Besides, how many frogs in the world have a tail?"

"He's got a point." The hedgehog said, turning towards her teammates. "Not to mention how's he supposed to take care of these giant ones? I mean, they'd probably flood his home just like that." She snapped her fingers to prove her point.

"Hmph, whatever…" The rabbit grunted, looking ahead again.

"And I wouldn't leave you guys anyway." Keoni said.

"ALRIGHT!.!.! I GET IT!.!.! SHADDAP ALREADY!.!.!"

The other three held their ears to drown out Mackenzie's screaming as they neared the end of the vine.

"Man, when we get outta this swamp, I'm getting ear plugs." The only male of the group said.

"Ditto." The older girl agreed

"Chao, chao." Cheese nodded.

"I heard that…" The youngest member grumbled. She then looked ahead. "Hey! We're at the end of this thing!"

The two older kids looked and noticed a stretch of land below the vine's end.

"Alright you guys, get ready to jump!" Clio ordered, bending her legs.

"Right!" The others chorused, following suit.

As soon as they reached the end, the trio jumped and performed a 360° spin in the air. Their torque allowed them to clear the remainder of the swamp and land on the path. Cheese hung on to Mackenzie as they landed.

"Whew! We made it…" The rabbit said.

"Was there any doubt in your mind?" Clio remarked as she and Keoni gave her smug looks. The bunny only shook her fists at them in response.

"C'mon cuzzes, let's move!" The cat said. The others nodded and turned towards the path when they noticed something ahead.

"Hey! What's _that_ thing!.?" Mackenzie shouted.

In front of them, where the path widened out, was a huge robot. It was at least three times taller than Clio. Its body was round, its feet were big, and in its arms was a hammer that clearly outdid the hedgehog's. But the weirdest feature about it was its head. It was designed to look exactly like Dr. Coconutman! It had the same tiny, square glasses and fishing hat. For the sake of avoiding confusion, we'll call this new enemy the hammer bot.

"Woah! That thing's big!" Keoni exclaimed. "Do we have to fight it?"

"Well, I doubt it's gonna let us pass through, so yeah, we're going have to fight." Clio replied, drawing her Pika Pika Hammer. She then smirked. "So the doctor thinks he can beat my hammer? Let's see how strong this robot is!" She then skated towards the automaton.

"Clio! Wait!" The cat held a hand out toward her but she didn't pay attention.

As Clio drew closer, the robot activated and turned towards her. When it sensed her presence, it grabbed its weapon with both hands and swung downwards. The hedgehog dodged it by jumping to the right. The hammer crashed onto the ground, causing the earth to tremble. Keoni and Mackenzie, who were watching from afar, struggled to remain balanced as they felt the tremors. Cheese wasn't affected at all.

"Ha! You're pretty good, but not good enough!" Clio bragged as she evaded another swing. She landed and jumped towards the robot. She pulled her mallet back and gave a war cry as she brought it crashing down on the bot's head!

…Only to have no effect?

"Huh?.?.?" Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese sweatdropped when they noticed that the hammer bot was still standing and that Clio was floating in mid air with her hammer still against the bot's head.

"Erm…" The hedgehog blinked.

Immediately after that, she repeatedly swung her hammer in an attempt to damage the robot. If the metal one was able to make expressions, it would have a look that was a mixture of boredom and irritation. Clio's "barrage" continued for about a minute longer before the robot, getting tired of the pounding, spun the upper half of its body around, effectively tossing the girl towards her teammates. She screamed as she was sent through the air until she skidded on the dirt in front of the others.

"Ugh…" She moaned as she weakly lifted her head.

"Cuz! Are ya alright!.?" Keoni asked, helping her up.

"Yeah… I think so…" The leader coughed.

"C'mon, we gotta beat that thing together, cuz!"

"Right!" Clio nodded, getting her second wind. She turned to Mackenzie. "Take the lead and paralyze him!"

"Got it!" The rabbit said, flying upwards. Clio grabbed onto her hands while Keoni held onto the hedgehog's feet.

The hammer bot stomped towards the trio, causing the ground to quake slightly. This didn't affect the team though. Mackenzie flapped her ears and ascended. When the robot was within range, the rabbit kicked her leader. Clio spun into a ball as electricity crackled around her. She shot through the air and collided into the enemy, causing that same electricity to crackle around the robot, paralyzing it.

"Now, you guys! Before it recovers!" Clio ordered, landing on the ground.

"Ya heard her, cuz! Launch me!" Keoni told Mackenzie. He was hanging onto her with only one hand. The other was holding his fishing rod.

"Ugh! Alright!" The bunny groaned, drawing back her right leg.

She held it there for a few seconds before letting it connect with the feline's back. Keoni held his "sword" out as he spun into a ball. A dazzling light display was created as he flew through the air. When he came in contact with the robot, he continued to spin, creating a huge gash in its chest. When he finally stopped, he jammed the rod into the hole, allowing the electricity to flow of it and into the robot. The result was _very_ shocking for the bot. Keoni and Clio skated back to Mackenzie and Cheese as lightning crackled all over the enemy. Seconds passed before it blew up, clearing the way for our heroes. A yellow power core floated down onto the ground.

"Whew! That was a close one…" The cat commented, wiping his forehead.

"No kidding…" The hedgehog panted.

"C'mon, ya bunch of lame-os! We gotta get moving!" Mackenzie ordered.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked in agreement.

Moaning, the two older kids skated onward, followed by the irate rabbit and the chao. Mackenzie grabbed the power core and got her first level up as the group approached a high ledge. After some coaxing from Clio, the flying member lifted her and Keoni onto the ledge. As soon as they landed on the path, they heard a croak and looked ahead.

"Hey look! A frog!" Keoni said.

"But it looks different from the other ones we've seen…" Clio pointed out.

In front of the team was indeed a frog, but instead of green, it was black. A tall stalk of flowery platforms was growing out of the ground next to it.

"So it's a different color. Who cares!.?" Mackenzie said in her oh-so-pleasant manner. "It's just gonna make it rain, _again_!" She added, hissing at that last word.

As soon as she said that, the frog noticed them and started croaking. As with the normal green frogs they've encountered, the sky above darkened. Seconds later, it began to rain, soaking the group. But there was one major difference. Instead of the stalk (and any other vegetation in the immediate area) growing, it shriveled up and shrank to nothing. The furries looked around in shock. The nearby trees also suffered as a result of the frog's rain. The leaves died and fell off while the branches drooped and hung low.

"That frog's killing all the plants!" The leader panicked.

"No way!" The cat gasped.

"Ugh… I shoulda took an umbrella with me…" The rabbit groaned, trying to shield herself from the rain.

When the rain finally stopped, the frog, satisfied with its work, hopped off to the depths of the swamp. The quartet, on the other hand, rung out their clothes (in the case of the girls) and shook themselves until they were dry (in the case of Keoni and Cheese).

"I'm surprised we don't have a cold yet…" Mackenzie moaned.

"My hair is so messed up!" Clio wailed, crying waterfalls. "When we get outta here, I'm getting a perm!"

Sweatdropping, Keoni shrugged. "Well, at least the rain's refreshing."

"Chao." Cheese nodded. The girls glowered at both of them.

"Come on. Let's get going." Clio said, skating ahead. The others followed.

They skated/flew up an incline until they turned left at a bend. There, the team found a bunch of flappers floating in the way. They were all black and had red spikes protruding from their bodies every few seconds.

"Woah!" The hedgehog yelped, skidding to a stop. Anyway further and she would've been Swiss cheese! She wiped her forehead and stepped back from the robot.

"Oh great! How do we take care of _this_!.?" The rabbit shouted, pulling Cheese (who floated ahead) back. It would've suffered a similar fate if its owner didn't react. When the chao hugged her gratefully, she immediately regretted it.

"Not to worry, cuzzes! I got an idea!" Keoni told them, taking out his fishing rod. The others looked at him curiously.

"What?" They asked. The cat pointed to Mackenzie.

"Take her and use Thunder Shoot on those robots." He said, gesturing to Clio. "I'll be right behind ya."

The girls and chao looked at each other before nodding.

"Ok… Just be careful." The leader said.

"No prob! Nothing's gonna happen to me!" He said, pointing to himself confidently.

"C'mon already! Let's do this!" Mackenzie ordered, already hovering above the ground. Clio looked at her feline friend one more time before grabbing the bunny's hands.

Following Keoni's instructions, Mackenzie kicked Clio into each individual robot that was floating in the path. Due to the rabbit's electrical attachments, the hedgehog was able to paralyze each of the metallic nightmares. Once the robots were grounded, Keoni rushed forward and slashed each of them. With the bots gone, everybody continued on.

When they passed through the area, they reached a cliff that had platforms growing out of the nearby walls. A spiky flapper was floating in the middle of the gap. It was right in front of an air ring that led to the next path.

"Ok, Mackenzie, you know what to do." Keoni said.

"Who died and made _you_ boss?" The rabbit grumbled as the cat grabbed Clio's feet.

After destroying the offending robot with her electrifying attack, Mackenzie flew her teammates across the gap and through the air ring. They landed on the path and broke formation. They then skated/flew around the next bend where they found a flapper floating in front of a vine swing.

"What the?.?.? What's with these things showin' up everywhere!.?.!" Mackenzie ranted.

"Chao!" Cheese supplied just as angrily. Both of their fists/flippers were clenched tightly, as were their teeth.

"Guys! There's no point in getting mad about it." Clio tried to calm the two down. "Let's just beat this bot so that we can get moving."

"Hmph! Fine." The rabbit said as she and Cheese took a deep, calming breath.

"I'll take care of this!" Keoni said, once again, readying his rod. "Roll into a ball, Clio-cuz."

"Alright." The leader nodded, doing so. "Just don't swing too hard this time! I still have the sore from the last time you did that attack."

The cat sweatdropped. "Erm… Right…"

When Clio was ready, Keoni stood behind her and held his rod like a golf club (nine iron in case you were wondering). He shook his tail as he sized up his target. He grabbed a few blades of grass that were growing nearby and let them go. A slight breeze blew them ahead, the perfect conditions for this attack. He then tapped his rod against Clio a few times, a method of mental preparation. Mackenzie sweatdropped and crossed her arms impatiently as she and Cheese watched the exercise in patience.

Keoni looked up at the robot, waiting for the right moment to strike. The spikes on the bot retracted, only to pop right out a second or two later. The cat didn't blink as he continued to watch it extend and retract its spikes. In…out…in…out…in—

"Oh will ya just swing it already!.?.!" The rabbit shouted, causing Keoni to jump in surprise. He then glared at her.

"Thanks a lot! Ya just broke my concentration!"

"Hmph!" The little girl crossed her arms. "Just hurry up and swing! She's just gonna hit the robot anyway, ya lame-o!"

"Chao, chao!"

"Ok, ok! Sheesh!" Keoni defended, holding his hands up. He then turned to his other companion and drew his rod back. The jewel on his flame ring glowed as he prepared to swing.

"FOUR!.!.!" He yelled as he swung.

The rod connected with Clio, sending her flying towards the flapper. Her body flared up in flames as she got closer and closer to it. The hedgehog screamed as she careened through the air until she crashed into it, blowing it up. She bounced away, spun through the air, and landed beside her teammates. She immediately turned and grabbed Keoni by the throat.

"Why you—! That was too hard!.!.!" She roared. Keoni gulped as she shook him.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I d-d-d-d-don't kn-kn-kn-know my own strength!" He tried. She just kept shaking him for a few moments more before letting him go. The cat had a dazed look on his face as he greedily took air in.

"Wow… She's my hero…" Mackenzie commented. Cheese gave her a quizzical look.

"Chao?" It then scratched its head before shrugging.

"Now then, if you're done wasting time!" Clio yelled at Keoni, who was standing up. "Let's move on!"

"Right!" The others saluted.

Just before they can move towards the swing, a very welcome sound (at least to Clio) was heard.

"_Hello Moto._" This was followed by an upbeat jingle.

"Oh!" The hedgehog gasped as she reached into her purse. She pulled out her cell phone, which had that all-too-familiar symbol displayed on its tiny screen. "Hey! Our Team Blast is charged up!"

This announcement was treated to groans, moans, and boos from the other three members of the group. Clio turned and gave them a heated glower. The trio shrank back at the outraged fire in her eyes.

"What was that?" She hissed. The others huddled together in fright. Even Mackenzie, the toughest little girl in Ocean Shores, was trembling.

"I-I-I-I-I m-m-m-m-mean yay…?" She and Keoni said with a heavy gulp. Cheese just stuttered out several strings of "Chao."

"Hmph! That's better." The leader grunted, turning away. She put her phone away and looked over her shoulders at her teammates. "Let's go! My darling Otto awaits!"

The others' fear was replaced with slaps on the head.

"Figured we weren't going to get through this place without her going on about him…" Mackenzie grumbled.

"Yeah…" Keoni agreed. Cheese simply nodded.

Anyway, everybody then jumped onto the swing. Clio was hanging on to the vine while Keoni held her legs. The rabbit held his while Cheese clung to her. The quartet swung back and forth until they reached the necessary height. Once they reached the highest point of their swing, they let go and were sent towards another path.

At the end of this one was a huge weight trap. Utilizing Mackenzie's flying ability, everyone flew over the trap and onto the next piece of road. After going around the next bend, they found another spiky flapper standing guard over the cliff. Behind it were some springs that undoubtedly led further into the swamp. The rabbit kicked Clio into the robot, paralyzing it. Keoni then let go and finished it off with a quick slash of his rod. The robot exploded, freeing the path for our heroes.

"Woah…" Keoni gulped, looking over the side at the water below. "It's a long way down…"

"C'mon! This is nothing!" Clio said. "We've been higher up during this trip."

"Let's move, ya lame-os!" Mackenzie ordered.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese supplied.

"Alright, alright!" The hedgehog groaned. She then bent her legs. "Get ready to jump!"

With that, she leapt off the cliff and rolled into a ball, followed by the others. She used her homing attack to hit the first spring. Mimicking her, Keoni and Mackenzie followed suit. They were sent towards another spring that was stuck to a nearby tree, then one more before landing on a grassy platform. A checkpoint was right in the middle of it. Clio grabbed it, giving her first level-up.

"Whew! What a trip!" Keoni commented.

"Yeah, but it's not over yet." Clio said as the red glow faded. She pointed ahead. "Look." The others turned and followed her finger.

Ahead of them was a huge grade. The only way to get across it to the ledge on the other side was through two vine swings that were a few feet apart from each other.

"So how do we get through this, cuz?" The cat asked.

"Oh that's easy." The leader replied, turning to the rabbit. Keoni followed suit. Mackenzie did a double take when she noticed the stares.

"_Me!.?_ Why?.!" She demanded.

"Well, you're the only one that can fly." Clio said with a shrug.

"And there's no way we can normally reach that first swing, so…" Keoni supplied.

"Ok, ok! I'll do it!" The irate one shouted, already flapping her ears. "Grab on…"

With that, the trio got into fly formation. Cheese followed them as they flew over to the first swing. As soon as Mackenzie grabbed it, they all started swinging. Once they reached the arch of their swing, they let go and soared towards the next vine. During their flight, Clio and Keoni performed a quick Ollie while Mackenzie just flew along with her arms crossed grumpily. Due to the speed the others were going at, when they reached the second swing, they hit the highest point almost immediately, allowing them to land on the ledge.

"Good job, Mackenzie!" Clio complimented, looking up.

"Yeah, yeah." The younger girl muttered.

"Look alive, cuzzes! We got trouble!" Keoni shouted, letting go of Clio. The girls looked ahead and gasped.

A pair of jellyfish robots was approaching them! The kids smirked as they turned to each other.

"I'll take the one on the left. You two take the one on the right." The cat said, readying his rod. The girls nodded.

"Right!"

With that said, the team charged at their targets. Mackenzie drew back her right foot and brought it crashing into Clio yet again. The hedgehog held her hammer out as she spun towards the robot on the right. When she crashed into the bot, it was paralyzed due to the rabbit's attack. Before the metal minion can even reach the ground, she bounced high above it and brought her hammer crashing down, felling it.

The remaining robot moved to attack the hedgehog, but was quickly stopped by Keoni, who dashed up to it and delivered an upwards slash. This was followed up by a stab right through its electronic eye. The two older members of the group jumped back as the automaton blew up. In the pieces of burnt scrap metal, there was a yellow power core, which Mackenzie greedily grabbed, giving her more energy.

"Aw man…" Keoni started, crying animé tears. "How come _they_ get level-ups while I don't even get one?"

(Me: °Shrugs° Beats me. You'll get one sooner or later, so continue!)

"Ya heard the strange disembodied voice! Let's go cuzzes!" He shouted, skating off towards the path. The girls and Chao sweatdropped and followed him.

To be continued...

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Seven

The scene opened in the studio. Izzy and Iggy were standing alone in the center. As always, the older brother had his arms crossed impatiently while the younger of the two looked around, barely able to keep still.

"Eeeee!.!.! I can't believe Daddy's gonna fix our mallets so that we can fight those aliens!" Iggy cheered. "I wonder how he'll set them up."

"Who cares!.? I just want him to hurry up and give it back to me!" Izzy shouted. He then shuddered. "I feel so naked without my weapon of destruction."

The shorter hedgehog only gave him a weirded out look in response.

"Uhhhh… We _are_ naked. You need to get out more, bro." He said before smiling. "Maybe you can take Keoni with you to the movies!"

"Grrrrr…" The taller furry growled, shaking his fists. "Why you…!.!.!"

He reached into his vest pocket, ready to draw his weapon. …If he had one.

"Oh yeah… Forgot…" He slapped his head. "Man! Where is he!.?"

"Right here."

The siblings turned towards the sound of my voice. I was walking towards them from left stage. Behind me, a Glorft was wheeling a cart. On it were my, Izzy, and Iggy's mallets, as well as an additional treat. The brothers ran up to me.

"Daddy! You're back!" Iggy shouted, clinging to my leg.

"Awwwwww…" The audience went as I tried to shake him loose to no avail.

"It's about time!" Izzy roared. "Where's my mallet already!.?"

"It's right over there." I said, pointing to the table. Grinning widely, the two brothers dashed towards the table and grabbed their prizes.

"Oh baby, I missed you!" The elder brother yelled, rubbing his head against the mallet. "Come back to Daddy!"

"Wow! My mallet looks all nice and shiny!" The younger one cheered, waving it around. He then blinked. "But it feels heavier…"

"Yeah! And what's with these things here?" Izzy agreed, holding up a small pouch. Iggy reached over and grabbed another one.

"Heh, heh… It's quite simple." I chuckled as I walked over and grabbed my own mallet, as well as a pouch that was lying next to it. I used the strap to wrap it around my waist. The two hedgehogs did the same. "As you two know, I modified our mallets in case we ever have to do battle with the aliens that Warior is fighting. If you open your pouches, you'll see my little surprise."

Blinking curiously, they did as they were told. They reached for their packs and opened them. They reached inside and pulled out what seemed to be computer chips. They sweatdropped and looked up at me.

"Erm… What…?" They both trailed off. I only smirked in response.

"You're holding what are called battle chips. During the chapter, I took a little trip to the Mega Man dimension. More specifically, the world of the Battle Network series. There, the characters use these chips to battle computer viruses with their net navis, or navigators. I asked the scientist Dr. Hikari to modify our hammers to utilize battle chips much like the navis can on the Internet. I also grabbed a few hundred chips for our use."

"And how is _this_ little reference gonna help us!.?" Izzy shouted. "We're fighting _aliens_, not computer viruses!"

My smirk turned into a grin. "I'm glad you asked. You see, there's a slot on the head of our weapons for which to place battle chips in." My grin widened as I reached into my pouch and pulled out a battle chip. "Allow me to demonstrate. Fire Tower battle chip in!" I inserted the chip into the side of my mallet. "Download!"

Instantly, fire engulfed my weapon. Strangely, I wasn't affected by the flames or the searing heat. I then bent my legs and jumped into the air.

"Fireeeeeeeee…" I started, holding the mallet over my head at the apex of my jump. I went for a swing as I started to fall. "Tower!.!.!"

I slammed my mallet onto the floor a few feet away from Izzy. The fire then left the hammer and sank into the small crater that was just made. Nothing happened after that.

"Whew…" Izzy let out a relieved breath. "For a second there, I thought I was gonna—"

Suddenly, a fiery geyser burst out of the ground right where the hammer was a moment ago. It was followed by another one and another and another until an inferno engulfed Izzy, who shouted in pain. Soon, the fire faded, revealing the hedgehog, who was charbroiled. He was blinking in disbelief. His body was smoking and sizzling. A quill on the top of his head was on fire as he stood there trying to figure out how that happened.

"Oh my!" Iggy gasped, grabbing a chip out of his own pouch. "Don't worry, bro! I'll put out that fire! Aqua Tower battle chip in! Download!"

Izzy's eyes widened as he turned towards his brother, who just put the chip into his mallet. Seconds later, water cascaded off every inch of it. The energetic furry then jumped high into the air.

"Aquaaaaaaaa…" He started, twirling in the air. His movements sent water droplets to the ground like rain. At the arch of his jump, he moved himself so that he was in a sitting position with his hammer drawn downwards. He then started to descend. "Tower!.!.!"

When he landed, the water surrounding his mallet sank into the ground much like my flames did. Immediately after, a massive water spout burst out of the ground. Izzy panicked and tried to move as it moved closer and closer until it submerged him completely. When the attack ended, he was no longer blackened. Instead, he was dripping water. His drooping quills covered his face completely. He unceremoniously spat out a fountain's worth of water before getting red in the face. The water evaporated as he grabbed a battle chip of his own.

"Ok, ok! You two wanna play, huh!.?.! I'll show you! Wood Tower battle chip in! Download!"

As soon as the angry hedgehog inserted the chip, his hammer glowed with a green aura. He then took his weapon into both hands and held it up above his head. He then slammed it into the ground, sending the energy flowing inside. Moments later, the entire studio shook and rumbled. Iggy and I gulped as we stood our ground.

"D-d-d-d-did he s-s-s-say…" Iggy started.

"W-w-w-w-wood Tower?.?.?" I finished.

"Hahahahahahaha!.!.!" Izzy cackled. "You're mine now! This is the strongest of the three tower chips!" He then waved his mallet. "Wood Tower!.!.!"

Following that command, dozens upon dozens of giant wooden spikes rose out of the ground at an amazing pace! They were heading right for me and Iggy! We both put on determined looks as we prepared to defend ourselves.

"Battle chip in! Download!.!.!" We both called.

°BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!°

Izzy cheered as gray clouds were seen where Iggy and I were standing.

"Alright! I got 'em! I got 'em! I got—" He gasped as the smoke started to clear. "No way!.!.!"

The smoke dissipated, revealing Iggy and I. We were each surrounded by a dark purple barrier. Our hammers were glowing the same color.

"Heh, I'm glad I had the foresight to grab some Life Aura chips!" I said happily.

"Yeah!" Iggy supplied.

"Aw man!" Izzy slapped his head. He gripped his mallet. "Well, aura or no aura, I'll still beat ya! Yah!.!.!" He charged towards us with his hammer drawn.

"No way bro!" The younger brother challenged, running forward.

As the two brothers prepared to do battle, I shrugged and turned to the camera.

"Eh, if ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. See ya next time!" I ran towards the battle. "Hey! Don't start without me!"


	20. Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs! Pt 2, 2

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Eight

The scene opened in the studio, which looked completely wrecked! There were craters everywhere. The floor and walls were cracked. Scorch marks lined the walls. The desk and couch where we normally sit at were both spilt in two. The curtains above the stage were on fire. The crowd was screaming and cheering as they kept their eyes on center stage.

In the middle of the chaos, Izzy, Iggy, and I were standing, battling each other with our new toys. Well, actually, we weren't battling _each other_. Rather, Izzy was fighting Iggy and I. We were still incased in our Life Auras, meaning that the older of the two brothers was unable to touch us. Try as he might, the hedgehog in the red vest was just no match for the shields' power.

"Ahhhhhhh!.!.!" He screamed as he lunged with his hammer held high yet again.

He leapt high in the air before coming down towards me. He then pounded my barrier. The force of his rage plus the effect of gravity caused numerous shockwaves to resonate all around us, causing the studio to shake for what seemed to be the hundredth time since we got those battle chips. My aura held strong nevertheless.

"Argh!" He gritted his teeth as he jumped away and grabbed a chip from his pouch. "Yo-yo battle chip in! Download!"

He inserted it into his mallet, causing it to flash brightly. When the light vanished, it had transformed into a launcher of sorts. He then made the wind up and swung his weapon. A spiked disc tied to a string launched out towards Iggy. The deadly toy rammed into his barrier and rolled upwards in an attempt to penetrate it. Due to the fact that the Yo-yo chip does a crappy amount of damage, it didn't even come close to breaking through. In his state of rage, Izzy simply grabbed two battle chips as his hammer turned back to normal.

"Boomerang and Wood Plus Thirty battle chips in! Double download!"

"Hmph! So he learned how to use support chips, huh?" I scoffed. Iggy snickered in response.

"I'll show you! I'm gonna break through those auras if it's the last thing I do!" Izzy shouted as he inserted the chips.

His weapon changed forms once again. It transformed into a metallic boomerang! He gave a war cry as he drew back his arm and launched the powered up projectile. It flew through the air, spinning like a buzz saw as it neared the younger hedgehog and I. Alas, despite the support chip Izzy used, the boomerang merely bounced off the auras before returning to him.

"Man! What gives!.?.!" He cursed as he caught it. It turned back into his mallet. "Why can't I hit you guys!.?"

"Duh! The Life Aura can withstand attacks that do less than _two hundred_ hit points worth of damage!" I clarified.

"Yeah! So there's nothing you can do to break it!" Iggy teased cheerfully. His brother only growled and shook his fist at us.

"Oh don't worry! I'll find _something_ that can break your crappy little shields. Count on it!"

"Yeah right." I said, crossing my arms. "Anyway, we gotta get to business." I turned to the audience. "Hey everybody! We're _finally_ at the end of chapter eleven!"

The crowd roared at that announcement.

"Now then, before we get to business, we gotta do the reviewer responses…" I trailed off as I looked at the sheet. I sweatdropped before looking up. "Erm… Better make that just one response." I sighed.

"In any case, to Warior, cool battle scene! I loved it! Like I said in the last installment, I can't wait to see what you're gonna do in your adaptation of Sonic Heroes. Now then, regarding what ya said about the upgrade, I must admit, those futuristic weapons may be top notch, but don't underestimate the power of battle chips. While some, like Izzy's, are pathetic—" The hedgehog in question snarled at me. "—In the right hands, they're formidable weapons. In fact, I'm willing to show ya one of the best features of battle chips, the program advance."

The audience ooooohhhh and ahhhhhhh at that.

"Program advance? Duh!" Izzy slapped his head. "I can't believe I coulda done that the whole time!" He smirked evilly as he reached into his pouch. "Now I know how to deal with ya!"

"No way!" Iggy challenged. "There's no way you can break through our barriers!"

"Who said anything about breaking them?" The older hedgehog asked, his smirk becoming more sinister. "I'm gonna _blow_ 'em off!"

Iggy turned to me as I paled.

"D-d-d-d-daddy… Wh-wh-what's he talking about?"

I gulped. "Iggy, get ready to use that advance I taught ya." I reached into my pouch and grabbed three chips. The little furry's eyes widened as he too grabbed three chips.

"Get ready!" Izzy announced, holding a chip high above his head. "North Wind battle chip in! Download!"

As soon as he inserted the battle chip, a transparent aura wrapped itself around his mallet. Grinning maliciously, he gave a mighty swing. A great gust of wind followed shortly after. Iggy and I tried to hang on for as long as possible, but it was no use. Izzy's attack completely blew away our Life Auras! We were defenseless!

"Gwahahahahahahaha!.!.!" Izzy gloated as his hammer stopped glowing. "Now that those troublesome auras are gone, time to do my second attack!"

He again placed a hand inside his pouch. This time however, he pulled out three chips just like Iggy and I did. He looked at his new weapons and gave a cunning smirk.

"Time to pay, boys! Mega Cannon battle chips in! Triple download!"

One by one, he inserted the three chips into his mallet. Soon after, it glowed with a bright energy. One stronger than even the greatest laser this dimension can produce. Izzy laughed insanely as the power of the chips caused his weapon to change greatly.

"Program advance!"

When the glowing finally subsided, the irate animal was holding in his hands an incredible cannon. It was a cube that looked way too heavy for Izzy to hold, but he managed to hold it level to Iggy and me. It had five chambers, one on each corner with a bigger one in the center. It gleamed in the stage lights above as the evil one prepared to fire.

"Prepare to face ultimate pain!" He said as he began to charge energy into it. A bluish light was seen in each chamber of the gun. It was dim at first, but began to grow in intensity until it was nearly as bright as the sun. "Giga Cannon Three… FIRE!.!.!"

The air grew thick with tension as the cannon charged for a few more seconds before finally firing. Izzy was knocked backwards as it discharged. A huge beam of energy headed towards me and Iggy! But we stood firm!

"Now Iggy!" I ordered.

"Right!" The younger one nodded.

"Program advance!.!.!" We both called as our own mallets glowed brightly just as the beam closed in.

°**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!**°

"YES!.!.!" Izzy cheered, dancing around the stage. "There's no way they could've survived _this_ time! I finally won! Muahahahahahaha—"

"Think again!.!.!" My voice was heard. Izzy gasped and looked at the dust cloud. Iggy and I stepped out of it, much to his horror.

"WHAT!.?.! IMPOSSIBLE! THAT SHOT WAS DEAD ON!.!.! HOW DID YOU SURVIVE!.?.!" He roared. I only chuckled in response.

"That's easy. In the last second, we activated our own program advance, the Five Hundred Barrier."

"The Five Hundred wha?.?.?"

"Duh bro! When we used that advance, we were protected from any move that does five hundred hit points worth of damage!" Iggy explained.

"And since your cannon can do five hundred points of damage, it was cancelled out!" I added. The hedgehog gritted his teeth as he shook his fists.

"This ain't over yet!" He bellowed as he tightened his grip on his newly transformed mallet.

"Fine, fine." I said, waving my hand dismissively as I turned to the camera. "But we gotta get to the chapter. Now then, in this week's installment, Clio, Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese will continue their trek through the Lost Jungle. Here's hoping they make it out!"

Izzy swooned. "Especially Keoni…"

Iggy and I sweatdropped as we gave him a curious look. We shrugged it off and waved at the crowd.

"Enjoy the chapter, folks!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Eleven

Frogs, Frogs, and more Frogs!

Part Two-Two

The group skated down a sharp decline for a few moments before hitting a boost pad that took them into a downwards corkscrew. They were against the wall as they continued on. Soon, they leveled out as they went along the bottom of the path and up a ninety degree angle. They went upside down for a few seconds before continuing down a wall that seemed to lead into a patch of swamp water. At the bottom though was a trio of springs.

The team hit the springs and was shot up into the air over the water. Everyone performed a 360 at the arch of their jump. They soon landed on a small island with mushrooms growing out of it. It was also guarded by a jellyfish bot. It was quickly dispatched with a quick whack of the Pika Pika Hammer. Moving as fast as they can, the team hit a nearby jump pad and went flying again.

They all soared over more water before falling towards a mushroom that was poking through the surface. Situated on it was another spring, which bounced them towards a taller fungus. When they finally landed on something solid, the group found themselves overlooking another island that had a black frog standing in front of a small incline. Floating over the incline were two more spiky flappers. Growing on a giant tree root above the robots was a pair of equally large fruit.

"Aw great! Not _another_ one!" Mackenzie protested.

"Actually, there's another one too." Keoni said, pointing ahead. On top of the incline was a second dark frog.

The first frog looked up and saw them. It immediately started croaking, summoning its vile rain. All four of them groaned and slumped forward.

"Man… I'm so glad Otto isn't around to see this…" Clio moaned.

"Blech… And I just dried myself too…" Keoni supplied.

"Chao…" Cheese added.

"Grrrrr…" Mackenzie growled, shaking all over. She made to jump towards the amphibian, but her older teammates held her back. She flailed around in a desperate attempt to escape. "Lemme go! That thing's gotta pay!.!.!"

She continued to struggle for a few moments before Clio looked and gasped.

"Woah! Check _that_ out!"

The struggle stopped with Keoni and Mackenzie looking at her strangely. They then looked ahead and felt grins creep up on their faces.

The giant fruit that had been hanging above the robots fell due to the rain. When they landed on the hill, they rolled down until they crashed into the flappers, destroying them. The rain cleared up shortly after that. Like the first frog they encountered, it hopped away.

"Wow! Those things just got beaten like that!" Keoni exclaimed.

"Hmph! They're so lame, getting whomped by a bunch of fruit." The rabbit grunted, crossing her arms.

"Well, I guess those frogs are good for something after all." Clio shrugged as she walked to the edge of the mushroom. She then turned to the others. "Well? Let's go!"

"Right!"

They jumped off and landed at the foot of the incline. They skated/flew up it, only to be at the foot of another one. Like on the first incline, two flappers were preventing passage. Two pieces of fruit were also growing above them. The quartet faced the second frog. As soon as it saw them, it croaked, causing it to rain yet again. The fruit fell and destroyed the bots much like the previous pair. Everyone dived out of the way and allowed them to roll right into the water.

"Whew… That was a close one…" Keoni sighed as the rain cleared up.

"Yeah…" Clio nodded, looking to her right. "Hey Mackenzie, it's your lucky day!"

"Huh?" The girl in question looked at her curiously. "What are ya blabbing about _now_?"

She followed the older girl's finger and grinned. On top of a nearby mushroom that was growing out of the bog was an item bubble containing a yellow power core.

"Alright!" She flapped her ears and flew over to the bubble. "Level-up!" She cheered as she popped it. She then flew back to her teammates.

"Aw man!" Keoni pouted, kicking the ground.

(Me: Patience is a virtue, my friend.)

"Whatever, brah." He retorted, crossing his arms. Clio sweatdropped.

"Come on, Keoni. Let's keep going."

The cat nodded solemnly and followed his friends up the hill. There, they found a flower helicopter much like the ones they saw during their cross country trip. Across a stretch of water too wide for them to fly over was the rest of the path.

"Ok guys, get ready to jump." The leader said, pulling out her hammer.

"Alright." The others nodded, standing behind her.

Clio gave her hammer a mighty swing, generating a whirlwind. Doing so caused the propeller-like petals to spin in the breeze. Shortly after, the top part of the flower lifted into the air. The hedgehog quickly grabbed on while the rest of the team held on to her legs. The strange plant flew them over the water and onto the next area. They let go and landed on solid ground. They were now in a small, moss covered canyon.

"Look alive, kooks!" Mackenzie announced, pointing ahead. The others turned and saw several flappers flying towards them with their spikes extended! The older kids smirked at each other as they grabbed their respective weapons.

"You ready?" The female asked.

"Ya know it, cuz!" The male responded.

The two then charged towards the robots. When they were mere seconds from the bots, they jumped away to the left and right respectively. The pair kicked off the canyon walls with their weapons drawn back. When the furries reached the flappers, a massive dust cloud appeared. Grunts, shouts, clanging, and bonks were heard as Mackenzie and Cheese looked on in astonishment. A few moments passed before the cloud dissipated and Clio & Keoni were revealed standing over a pile of scrap metal.

"Heh, piece of cake!" The cat scoffed, dusting off his hands.

"Oh! That was sweet!" The hedgehog shouted, leaning against her hammer. She then waved to Mackenzie and Cheese. "C'mon you two! We're almost there!" She then jumped off the pile and continued on, followed by Keoni. The rabbit put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, I bet."

She flapped her ears and flew high over the pile, followed by her pet. They soon caught up to the leader and the only boy of the group. They made a right turn and hit a spring bar that was next to a wall, taking them out of the canyon. Once they were on the new path, they made their way to the left, where they saw a checkpoint.

"Alright cuzzes, you all got level-ups already, so it's my turn." Keoni told the girls. The rabbit and hedgehog looked at each other and shrugged.

"Fine by us." They both said, nodding.

"Just hurry up so we can end this stupid stage, lame-o." Mackenzie added.

"Chao!" Cheese squeaked.

Rolling his eyes, the cat grabbed the checkpoint, giving him his first level-up ("At long last!" He shouted. The girls and chao groaned at that.). Once the orange glow faded from his body, the quartet continued on. After going straight for a bit, the path curved sharply to the left as they went into a tunnel made out of a great tree's roots. Inside, several mushrooms released purple pollen into the air. It wasn't poisonous. In fact, the team wasn't even affected by it. When the path straightened out and they got out of the tunnel, the animals found a moss-covered cave standing in front of them.

"Alright! We're close to the end! I can feel it!" Clio cheered, skating inside along with the others.

As soon as they stepped inside, they skidded to a stop. Two flappers were inside with them! They were guarding a cage that had an orange mushroom inside. And to make matters worse, a hammer bot fell in from above, sending tremors throughout the room!

"Aw crap! What're we gonna do!.?.!" Keoni panicked.

"There's not enough room to fight!" Mackenzie supplied.

"Guys, guys! I know what we can do!" The leader told them. The others' eyes widened when they figured out what she was getting at.

"No…way…" The rabbit said, crossing her arms.

"Don't tell me ya want us to—"

"It's either that or get turned into a bunch of pancakes by that thing!" Clio interrupted Keoni, pointing at the giant robot. Her teammates groaned, seeing no other way out of this situation.

"Alright, _alright_… Let's do it…" The cat sighed, taking out his pole.

"Ugh… And here I thought we were done with that stupid move." Mackenzie moaned.

"Chao, chao…" Cheese added.

"Team Blast!" The hedgehog shouted, getting ready to jump. "Flower Fiesta!"

The attack started pretty much the same as last time. The background turned pink as Keoni, moaning in defeat, opened and twirled his umbrella. Clio and Mackenzie jumped on it and spun around for a few seconds before the cat pushed up on the umbrella. The rabbit and hedgehog bounced up and landed on one foot, holding each other's hand. Keoni also balanced himself on one foot as many flowers appeared. The petals struck the three robots and destroyed them instantly. An orange power core fell out of the hammer bot.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Mackenzie roared as all three of them became invincible and gained barriers. Clio and Keoni had stopped glowing from gaining their level-ups when the irate rabbit pointed at the latter, who was still holding his umbrella. "You mean to tell me ya had an umbrella this whole time and ya didn't bother to use it!.?.!"

Keoni looked at his weapon and hurriedly put it behind his back, sweatdropping all the while.

"What?.! I couldn't just keep it out the whole time!" He defended. The rabbit didn't listen as she advanced towards him with her hands targeting his neck.

"When I get through with you, that umbrella's toast!"

"Chill out you guys!" Clio, the voice of reason (at least at the moment) interjected. "Did you forget that we still have to finish the stage?"

"Ugh… Yeah, yeah." Mackenzie grumbled. She glared at Keoni. "Just wait until we're done with this stage, lame-o!"

Keoni gulped as he put away the umbrella and moved towards the mushroom.

"Alright! Let's move on!" The leader shouted jumping onto the fungus. Keoni and Mackenzie followed suit with Cheese hanging on to its owner.

The quartet was shot up twenty or so feet until they landed on a ledge outside the cave. They then sped down a steep hill until they reached the bottom, which was positioned along the surface of the swamp. They went into an upwards corkscrew that quickly turned into a small loop-de-loop. After going upside down, they blazed down one more hill before hitting a spring bar.

They bounced up past a normal green frog, which croaked upon seeing them, drenching them in pure, plant reviving rain. To their immense relief, the goal ring was right behind the oversized amphibian. Pulling out his umbrella, much to the rabbit's annoyance, the cat walked over and touched the giant piece of jewelry, ending the stage.

"Took long enough!.!.!" The bunny screamed. "Now we can leave this stupid place!"

"Yeah, I'm glad we can finally get out of here. I need a warm bath so badly!" Clio groaned, stretching her back.

"Now where's the exit…?" Keoni trailed off when looked back at the frog, which was still hopping and croaking. He blinked when he saw something. "Hey! What's that?.!"

"Huh?.?.?" The others gave him a quizzical look before turning to the frog. They gasped when they saw what Keoni was talking about.

Underneath the reptile was a green, glowing object. It gave them all a warm feeling despite the cold rain falling on their (or at least Clio and Mackenzie's) heads. Soon, the rain stopped and the frog hopped away, revealing what it was hiding. A jewel was the cause of the glow. Clio grinned as her eyes went as wide as saucers.

"Eeeeee!.!.! It's gorgeous!" She squealed, scooping up the rock. "It's almost as beautiful as Otto's sunglasses!" The others sweatdropped at that simile. She then gasped (rather dramatically I might add). "Oh! I just thought of the greatest idea! I'll give this handsome emerald to an even more handsome hedgehog. I can see it all now…"

Her eyes glazed over as she imagined the scenario.

_Clio and Otto were standing across from each other. A pink and yellow background was behind them. Bubbles and sparkles can be seen, not to mention everything seemed kind of blurry. The taller of the two blushed and shuffled her feet as she tried to speak to her beloved. She couldn't maintain eye contact as she reached into her purse._

_"H-h-h-h-h-here…" She stuttered, pulling out the emerald. "I g-g-g-got this for you… As proof of our love." She handed it to Otto, whose eyes widened. He was speechless as he accepted the extravagant gift._

_"Cl-Cl-Clio… I-I don't know what to say… Except…"_

_With that, he wrapped his arms around the red-violet hedgehog and fixed her with a longing look. Clio's blush intensified as she returned the look._

_"Oh Otto…"_

_"Clio…"_

_The two kids closed their eyes as they drifted closer and closer… They could practically feel the other's breath on their lips…_

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Oh my sweet, sweet Otto-chan…" Clio bubbled as she hugged herself and kissed the air.

Meanwhile, Keoni, Mackenzie, and Cheese sweatdropped as they turned away from the sight with their eyes closed in exasperation.

"Well, there you have it." The older one started. "We lost her."

"Yet again." The female said.

"Chao." The girl's pet added. They all sighed boredly.

When the hedgehog finally got out of her movie-sized daydream, the trio continued on, trying to find a way out of the swamp.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Post-chapter Conversation

"Well, it seems that Team Rodriguez managed to get out of the jungle after all!" I announced to the audience. "Also, it looks as if they found a Chaos Emerald!"

The crowd cheered in response.

"Hey, how many does that make!.?.!" Izzy shouted at me. I held my chin.

"Hmmmmm… Both Team Lars and Team Rocket have two emeralds…"

"Don't forget that those detective guys have one too!" Iggy happily reminded.

"Right." I nodded. "And adding Team Rodriguez's latest find that makes six. That means that there's only one more emerald to go. I wonder who'll get it…"

"Pffft! I bet you already got that part thought out." The livid one scoffed.

"Maybe." I shrugged before turning to the camera. "In any case, anybody that's played Sonic Heroes knows what's coming up next, but for those that don't, let's just say that things are gonna get action packed." I winked. "_Very_ action packed."

"You mean you're gonna off Blondie!.?.!" Izzy asked excitedly. Iggy and I only gave him irritated looks.

"Uhhhh… No." I answered. He glowered at me.

"Oh boy! I can't wait to see what happens next!" Iggy cheered, clapping as he hopped up and down.

"Hmph!" Izzy grunted before smiling devilishly. He pulled out his mallet. "Now that the chapter's over, we can finish our battle!" He pulled out a battle chip. "My Electro Sword will end things nicely."

As he prepared to insert it, I put on a smirk of my own as a grabbed a chip.

"Anti-elec battle chip in." I whispered. "Download." I slipped it into my hammer and just stood there.

"Ha! You're out of shields, boss! I'm gonna beat ya this time!" Izzy taunted, not noticing my maneuver. "Electro Sword battle chip in! Download!"

He…you know the drill. His mallet transformed into a foil that was crackling with electricity. He grinned as he targeted me and charged forward with his blade held back. When he got close enough, he jumped and made to strike.

"Hold it! You activated my trap!" I announced, holding my hand towards him. Izzy blinked confusedly.

"Trap? What trap!.?"

"Watch and learn." I replied, snapping my fingers.

In no less than three seconds, a dozen bolts of lightning struck the hedgehog. Izzy screamed in pure, unadulterated pain as his skeleton was revealed to all present. This torment continued for about thirty more seconds before an electronic voice said, "_Izzy, logging out._" His body was replaced by the words, "Log out" before disappearing completely. Iggy then looked at me strangely.

"Uhhhhh… Daddy, what was that all about?"

"Well, using battle chips is dangerous business, especially when we use them against each other." I explained. "So our mallets are set up so that if we take too much damage, we are automatically 'logged out' and teleported to a hospital room where we'll be healed. By the next update, he should be back on his own two feet."

"That's good to know…" Iggy sighed.

"Yep!" I nodded, turning to the camera. "See ya next time! Oh, and to Mike, sorry about wrecking the studio with our battle." I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head. "I'll get my cleaning crew on it at once."

I then whistled, summoning the crew, which was made up of the Glorft. Instead of their traditional armor, they were wearing maid dresses, complete with frilly aprons and black caps. I then ordered them to clean up the place. As they got to work, they mentally cursed every deity they knew of. Meanwhile, I waved at the camera. Iggy was holding up a sign that read, "Review please!"


	21. Team Tussle Two, Part 1

Pre-chapter Conversation

(A/N: Tis a long one, folks!)

We open the scene inside my trailer. It looked fit for a CEO. At one end, there was a king sized bed covered with a velvet comforter. Beside it was a desk that had a plushy gold office chair behind it. On top of it were a gray laptop and several office toys. Several feet away was the kitchen, which had most if not every necessity every author needs to get through his or her day. The living room had several pieces of expensive looking furniture and a beautiful fifty inch plasma screen TV, complete with a purple Gamecube, of course.

Finally, at the far corner of the room was a gorgeous ornate treasure chest. Gold, jewel encrusted fixtures of different video game villains decorated every inch of it. Where there wasn't gold, there was an intricate design of purples and blacks giving the great box a truly evil look. It practically scared away all who came near with its sinister presence.

°Clatter!°

And Izzy was going through it!

"Those two idiots!" The hedgehog cursed as he rummaged through the chest, throwing what appeared to be battle chips over his shoulder. "Now I know why I've been losing so much! The boss gave me sucky chips without letting me see what was inside that pouch!"

He grabbed a handful and stood up. "I mean, look at this! Air Shoes, Quake Three, Dark Aura, Hero Sword! Now _these_ are battle chips! I could've really destroyed them with these babies!"

He put said chips inside his pouch and went back to searching. He continued to mumble about how he got "cheated" as he put more chips into his pouch. He put some into a bag that was lying at his feet when the pouch became too full. He only wanted the strongest and most powerful chips he could find. Anything to overwhelm Iggy and me, not to mention a certain fox.

"Whew…" He said, rubbing his head as he grabbed one last chip for himself and put it into his bag. "This should be enough to beat them once and for all!" He grabbed the lid and started to close it. "Now to—Huh?"

He stopped closing the lid when he noticed a red glow resonate from the chest. Putting on a curious look, Izzy opened the lid and saw that the light was caused by five chips that were on top of the whole pile. These seemed different from average battle chips. Normally, chips would have some kind of picture on them that depicts its use in battle. For example, the Twister chip has—well, a twister pictured on it. This of course meant that it allows the user to summon a tornado to attack his/her opponents similar to how Clio attacks with her hammer.

_These_ chips, however, were completely different. Instead of a picture, there were purple and black ridges all over them. Where a chip's label would normally be, there were red orbs with wires protruding from it. The wires were all over the strange chips. It seemed that the orbs were the chips' core. Of course, the glow the furry noticed earlier was coming from those cores. There was a presence inside them. Izzy could easily see a shadow swimming within the red like a sinister serpent getting ready to attack anything that came into its territory. Its movements were enticing, almost mesmerizing… The horrible blood red reflected in Izzy's eyes as he stood staring at it. He gave a twisted sneer as he scooped up the five chips. The sneer became a smirk as he grabbed his bag and walked out of the trailer.

"I finally have the perfect weapon. Heh, heh, heh…" He snickered wickedly as he made his way towards the main studio.

Meanwhile…

"So then I said to the cow, 'Where's the beef?'!" Iggy joked to me. I and the entire audience roared with laughter at that. Sure, it was a corny joke, but it's all in the delivery. Once I recovered, I turned to the crowd.

"Whew… That was a good one, Iggy." I said, wiping a tear.

"Thanks Daddy!" The little hedgehog said happily.

"Now then, we finally have an update for you at long last, folks!" Everyone shouted their approval at the miraculous news. "Yeah, I know, I know. It's taken forever, but we can now give you a new chapter after months of anticipation! Or at least part of one…"

Despite that last part, the crowd went bananas. Their cheers were shaking the entire building! Iggy and I were trying to remain standing. The tremors were making that quite difficult, however.

"Ok, ok! I get it! You're happy!" I shouted. "Could ya stop trying to bring the place down!.?.!"

"Please!.?.!" Iggy yelled as he finally succumbed to the quakes and fell.

The audience finally stopped after a few moments during which the props on stage collapsed in a huge cloud of dust. Iggy and I sweatdropped and surveyed the damage. I then sighed exasperatedly as the boy got up.

"Can't we get through one chapter without wrecking the place?" I held my forehead as I shook it.

"There's always next time, Daddy." Iggy comforted with a doubtful shrug.

"Oh well." I said getting back into the swing of things. A grin made itself known on my face as I struck a daring pose. "Time to get to the reviews!"

I pulled out my usual piece of paper, which was completely covered with dust (o.O)! I cleaned all the gray crud off and glanced over it. I cleared my throat as I prepared to speak.

"First of all, I appreciate that you've stuck without a single update all summer. It must have been crazy waiting for the next chapter to come! But at least I gave you some clear signals that I'm still alive!"

"Yeah! Those ultra cool slash fics!" Iggy shouted with a toothy grin. I gave him a thumbs-up.

"Right! But now that I've finished writing out the remaining chapters for my latest slash fic, it's time to get back in the driver's seat and finish off this monster! I won't work on anything else until this one is done!"

The crowd roared again. Luckily, it didn't last as long as the previous one.

"Now, time to answer the reviews for the last chapter!" I looked at the paper again before facing the camera. "First to Warior, those dirty guys took over your hangars too!.? Give 'em hell man!

"And to Mythica, glad to know you made it to your new home safely!" I shouted with a grin. "I hope it's working well for ya." I gave the camera a thumbs-up and a wink. "As for Izzy, eh, it's _always_ fun to torture him! I just can't help myself!"

The audience laughed at that display before I retained what little professionalism I had.

"Finally, I'm afraid I haven't gotten to look at the list of Sonic yaoi fics you sent me, but don't despair! All of those fics are right on top of my reading list! I plan to look at and review each and every single one!"

"Yayness! I can't wait to read 'em!" Iggy cheered, jumping up and down excitedly. He seemed to be more energetic than usual. I looked at him suspiciously.

"You haven't been going into your candy stash again, have you? You remember what happened the last time you had a sugar rush?"

°°Flashback°°

_"RRRRRRROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!.!.!" Iggy's voice thundered as he stomped through downtown Ocean Shores. The hedgehog was gargantuan! He was at least fifty feet tall! His eyes were dilated in a sugar coated daze. His lips were coated in a strange mixture of candy and bubblegum. His hands were covered in what looked like the dust from a pixie stick._

_Everything was black and white as the hyper furry laid waste to the seaside town. The National Guard was brought in to subdue the beast. Nothing they had could penetrate the monster's thick skin. Bullets bounced off him like spitballs. He caught missiles and merely flicked them away! Some hit buildings, destroying them. Others landed harmlessly in the ocean. He swat away fighter planes King Kong style! It seemed that nothing can stop this menace!_

_Following a particularly devastating explosion that didn't even scratch the hedgehog, Iggy looked down and saw all the little ants run away while the numerous tanks ganged up on him. He grinned insanely as he bent down towards the closest vehicle. As his giant shadow loomed over the frightened citizens, a Japanese couple stopped in the middle of the crowd and pointed at him._

_"Oh no! Godzilla will destroy us all!" A **very** bad voice over screamed for the man who was clearly speaking Japanese._

_"He will eat us!" Another bad voice over, this time female, yelled for the woman who again was speaking Japanese._

_"Oooooohhhhhhh…" The monster hedgy made a noise of awe as he reached a hand out._

_His hand hovered the couple! It seemed like he was trying to decide if he wanted to grab them or not!_

_"AHHHHHHHH!.!.!" They both screamed, again with bad voice overs (who needs a voice over for a **scream**!.?)._

_To their great misfortune(!.?.!), Iggy's hand went over the couple and grabbed the SUV that was nearby. The couple looked appalled as the hedgehog brought it towards him and started playing with it._

_"What, we're not good enough for you!.?" The woman shouted at him, but he didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he just didn't care._

_The giant furry spent the rest of that afternoon sitting on the ground and playing with the cars and tanks that littered the streets._

°°End Flashback°°

"Erm… No…" Iggy said innocently, hiding the lollypop he was licking behind his back. I fixed him with a reproachful look.

"Well _I_ do! It took weeks to pay the massive bill after _that_ one!" I threw my hands up in exasperation.

Iggy blinked. "But if you're the author, couldn't you just make millions and millions of dollars appear to pay it off?"

I waved a hand. "No, of course not. I—" I blinked and held my chin. "Hmmm… I wonder…" I snapped my fingers, causing a crisp one dollar bill to materialize into my hand. I put on an irritated look before slapping my head.

"_Now_ he tells me…" I grumbled. I turned to the crowd. "Moving on! I think it's about time we got to business! For this chapter—"

"Hold it right there!" Izzy's voice yelled. I sighed.

"What _now_?" Iggy and I turned towards the stage entrance to see the evil hedgehog stomp inside. "Izzy, so…_nice_…of you to join us."

"Hi bro!" The younger hedgy waved cheerfully…with the hand that was holding the lollypop. He looked up, gasped, and quickly hid it again.

"This time, I'm gonna destroy the both of you!" Izzy declared, readying his mallet. Iggy and I rolled our eyes before bringing out our own weapons.

"You _still_ haven't given it up?" I asked.

"Yeah! You're never gonna beat us, bro!" The shorter brother supplied. The older one only snickered in response.

"Well, that's where you're wrong. Ya see, I knew that the boss cheated me when he gave me those wussy chips."

"Ya know, I've been meaning to address that…" I commented.

"What?" Both siblings asked. I turned to Izzy.

"When I first gave you guys your battle chips, you accidentally took Iggy's pouch. I tried to tell you but ever since you got those chips, you've been hell-bent on beating us with them, so I eventually forgot."

My partner blinked. "So that means that the reason I've been losing all this time was because of a mistake you made…?"

I shrugged. "Looks that way."

Izzy fell over.

"Oh _that_ tears it!" He roared as he stood up. "You're done now!.!.!"

"Yeah right!" Iggy laughed. "And what are ya gonna do with your weak chips!.?.!"

The taller hedgehog smirked at us. "That's just it. I got myself better chips. Ones that are way stronger than yours!"

I gasped and glared at him. "You went into my battle chip chest!.?.!"

"Damn straight!" He said with defiant grin. "And I now I'll destroy you with—" He reached into his pouch and drew out one of the black and purple chips he grabbed earlier. "—_This_!"

"Woah! I've never seen _that_ chip before!" Iggy exclaimed.

"Good. Then it'll be the _last_ chip you'll ever see!" The elder brother shouted. He held the chip above his head. "And now to—"

"Don't you dare use that chip!" I suddenly ordered, glaring at Izzy. He froze. "Don't you know what that is!.?"

The evil hedgehog blinked. "Uhhh… A really rare and powerful battle chip?"

"A cool _and_ scary looking battle chip?" Iggy added, looking just as confused.

"Yeah, but there's more. That's a…" I paused for effect. "**Dark Chip!.!.!**"

The crowd gasped as the lights dimmed. Spotlights turned on over Izzy, Iggy, and I. Again, the brothers blinked confusedly at me.

"Dark…" Izzy started.

"Chip?" Iggy finished.

Ominous music began to play as fog rolled onto the stage.

"Yeah, a Dark Chip is dangerous to use." I explained.

"Oh please!" The older brother shouted, getting over his fear. "What's so bad about it!.?"

"For one thing, that chip's pure, unadulterated evil!"

Izzy crossed his arms. "I fail to see the threat."

"I'm serious!"

"So am I."

"Oy…" I slapped my head. "Look, when a net navi uses a Dark Chip, they are instantly filled with the most horrible things. Darkness, evil, greed, jealousy, a hatred for all things pure and good, and worst of all, pure unimaginable power!"

"…" Izzy gave me a strange look. "You just listed all of my best qualities plus the one thing I crave above all else aside from Blondie's untimely demise."

"Like _that's_ gonna happen anytime soon." Iggy muttered, rolling his eyes. I snickered in response, causing the taller hedgehog to scowl. I then put on my serious face again, getting back into the mood.

"That chip's cursed I tell ya! It's made from everything people hate about the Internet! Popups, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, chain e-mails—"

"Spam." Izzy interrupted impatiently.

"_Especially_ spam! If you use that chip, all of that goes right into your body and pierces your very soul, corrupting you and draining your life energy!"

"Uhhh _hello_? I'm already corrupted from being around you all these years!"

"…" I shrugged. "Point taken, but that still leaves your energy."

"Pfft! A small price to pay for ultimate power. Besides, I can't die as long as _you're_ alive. Now if we're done!" The hedgehog held the Dark Chip above his head. "Dark Chip in! Download!"

Grinning insanely, he inserted the chip into his hammer. Seconds later, it crackled with black energy. The power that was emanating from the mallet caused a brutal wind to billow around its user. Iggy and I shielded our faces while keeping one eye open to watch the startling transformation.

A strange cloud of darkness emerged from the hammer. There were crimson lights on it, symbolizing a face. Above the sinister eyes and twisted grin of a mouth was a diamond. We didn't get a chance to look at it for long for in the very next second, it was absorbed into Izzy's body! The furry screwed his eyes shut, threw his head back, and screamed as that very same darkness enveloped him. A column of black rose up from under his feet.

Within the cloud, we saw his body morph. Instead of purple, he became as black as night, blending in with the darkness all around him. Two horrible wings spread out of the cloud. They looked as wicked as bat wings, only they were narrower and much bigger. Iggy and I gulped as we noticed Izzy's quills become longer and sharper due to the Dark Chip's awesome power.

Soon, the cloud disappeared, revealing Izzy. The now-ebony hedgehog floated before us and opened his eyes as he brought his head towards us. We shrank back at the sight. His eyes were two glowing red orbs. The highlights in his quills turned from black to purple. A slightly lighter black and purple aura was surrounding him like a deadly haze. The entire room grew twenty degrees colder as the house lights turned back on.

"Now you will suffer my wrath!" A frigid voice unlike Izzy's warm but threatening one came out of him.

Iggy and I shuddered as he brought his hammer around his front. He gave it a sharp whip, causing it to flash a sinister pink. When the light vanished, it was a totally new weapon. It became a sword made of pure dark energy. A grayish aura was around the blade while a black (boy we seem to be using that color a lot, huh?.!) hilt served as the base.

"Dark Slash!" He exclaimed before flapping his wings. He charged straight at me. He glided over the floor like a jet! Getting over the fear his transformation instilled in me, I quickly grabbed a battle chip.

"Hero Sword battle chip—"

I was about to insert it when I realized that there was no way I can withstand the attack with a mere chip. I put my mallet away and held up my hands, hoping that my power as an author can stop him!

"Ultra Shield!"

A violet barrier encircled me just as Izzy raised his sword to attack. Seconds later, he smashed it into my shield, shattering it like it was just a simple piece of glass! The force of the attack threw me into the wall. My back hit it hard before I bounced off. Iggy and the audience gasped in horror as I fell towards the ground. But I never touched it though.

"_Prince Izzy logging out._" A male computer voice said as my body was replaced by the words "Log out" before disappearing.

"Daddy no!" Iggy shouted.

"_You!.!.!_" Izzy bellowed, turning towards his brother's voice. The smaller hedgehog was gone however. The dark one grinned sadistically. "So you wanna play Hide and Seek, huh? Ok. You hide and I'll _seek_!"

With that last word, he swung his sword towards one of the fallen props. A great blade of darkness was launched at it, causing an explosion. Izzy sneered when he didn't hear the voice announce his brother's defeat. The sneer quickly turned into a devilish grin when he realized that the game can continue.

"Come out come out wherever you are! Muahahahahaha!.!.!" He laughed as he continued destroying random stage props.

Meanwhile, Iggy was huddled behind the desk, fearing for his life. Tears were falling from his eyes.

"Oh man…" He sobbed. "What am I gonna do? I don't know how to protect myself from big brother's attacks…" He blinked and snapped his fingers. "Wait! Daddy told me what to do at times like this!"

He quickly brought his hammer in front of him and pulled out two chips.

"Holy Panel and Life Aura battle chips in! Download!" He called as he inserted the chips.

Immediately after, a warm serene feeling went through his body. It went all the way down to his feet, where the floor changed into a beautiful, golden panel. A bluish light came out of the middle, engulfing Iggy. Then the purple Life Aura surrounded him, protecting him from any of Izzy's attacks. Or so he hoped.

"Whew… Good thing I remembered this trick. Now Izzy can't get me. I guess I better tell what the chapter's about." He turned to the camera. "For the first part of this chapter, Team Rodriguez is gonna fight Team Sherlock. Who's going to win? Read on to find out!" He covered his mouth and whispered, "Oops! I can't be too loud or else he'll find me. See ya later…"

He waved as the camera faded to black.

(A/N: Yes, you still have to read the chapter! ;-P But before you get to that, I need to apologize for something. Ever since the beginning of the fic, I've been misspelling Little Scotty's name as "Little Scottie." It took looking at the end credits for the episode he was in before I realized my mistake. So from now on, his name will be spelled with a Y. Thanks and enjoy the chapter!)

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Rocket Heroes

Chapter Twelve

Team Tussle Two

Part One

"Ugh… When are gonna get outta here…?" Trent groaned.

"If the Prince of the Netherworld does get any food in him soon," Eddie announced creepily. He pulled up his mask and added in his normal voice, "I'm gonna keel over!.!.!"

"Aw man…" Little Scotty moaned, dragging a net along the ground. It was simply too heavy for him to carry it around while flying. "Why do _I_ have to carry this?"

"Because I'm the leader." The crocodile answered with a shrug.

"And _I'm_ a ninja, not some delivery boy!" The chameleon returned from behind his mask. He pulled it up. "So deal with it!" He said in his normal tone.

"Awwwwwwww!.!.!" The bee cried.

The trio of detectives were dragging themselves along. They were still inside the swamp. All three of them were dripping wet, no doubt from dealing with torrential downpours at the hands of the giant frogs inhabiting the area. Eddie was now completely brown. He had given up on maintaining his dark demeanor, at least for the moment. Trent was tired of seeing all the greenery and longed for the city again. Scotty was groaning in pain from the load he was carrying. Strangely, the bee was also dripping a thick substance in addition to the water.

Both of the older boys were simply irritated at the whole journey they've had to endure. If their youngest partner wasn't enough to worry about, there were also the added problems of their client giving them one complicated and downright crazy mission after another (they just had to round up ten chao that were living in the swamp), the headaches they were getting from the squeaks and protests of said chao (which Scotty was dragging across the forest), and the slight fevers they were developing from the frogs' rain. In short, they needed a good meal, a warm bed, and possibly a doctor.

"How much longer?.?.?" Scotty shouted from the back of the group.

They all stopped and faced each other.

"Erm… Good question…" The leader said. "We should've been out of here by now…" The others fixed him with a wide-eyed stared.

"Don't tell me we're—"

"Lost." Trent finished for Eddie.

A long silence followed before they all looked towards the sky.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!"

The trio started skating/flying at top speed.

"We gotta get outta here!.!.!" Trent screamed.

"I'm gonna go nuts if we don't get out of this crazy forest!.!.!" Eddie shouted, forgoing his chilling voice for a frightened one.

"But how do we get out!.?.!" Scotty yelled, barely keeping up with the others, the bag weighing him down. "We need to ask someone for directions!.!.!"

The older kids skidded to a stop. Not being able to slow down fast enough, the bee crashed into Trent. Apologizing to his leader, he hovered over the ground again. Eddie glared at him.

"Ask for directions!.?" He asked, crossing his arms. Scotty nodded. "And just _who_ are we supposed to ask!.? The trees? The rocks? I'm sure the frogs around here would be more than willing to help. That is, if ya don't mind being their lunch!"

Little Scotty yelped, dropped the net holding the chao, and hid behind Trent's back. He shuddered at the reminder of an experience he had shortly after they completed their latest mission.

°°Flashback°°

_"Come here you little—Ha! Got it!" Trent called to the others._

_He was standing on top of a cliff overlooking a path in the swamp. He was holding a squirming mass of blue in his hands. Down below, Eddie and Scotty were standing, watching their leader catch their final chao. A net filled with nine other unfortunate chao was lying behind them. The chameleon glowered at the croc._

_"Hurry up and get down here! I wanna get out of this forest already!"_

_"Alright, alright! I'm coming down!" Trent shouted back._

_He jumped off the cliff, clutching the chao close to him. Using the speed granted to him by his air skates, he jumped off the jutting rocks until he reached the ground. He walked past his subordinates and stuffed the chao into the net along with its brethren. Almost as soon as it was secured, the radio crackled._

_"**Good work, boys.**" The client complimented when Trent answered. "**When you leave the forest, I'll give you your next mission.**"_

_The radio crackled once more after that and went dead. The trio sweatdropped and looked at each other._

_"How are we supposed to leave anyway!.?" Eddie exclaimed. "We don't know how to get out of here!"_

_"Yeah!" Scotty added. Trent shrugged._

_"Guess we keep going until we find the exit." He started walking. "C'mon, and don't forget to take our load with ya!"_

_"You heard our 'honorable' leader." The ninja said, following after the older reptile. He turned to the bee and added, "Carry those chao!"_

_"Awwwww…" Scotty groaned. He picked up the net and flew after them, barely hovering a few inches above the ground._

_For a while, things were silent. Well, except for the protests of the chao and Little Scotty's grunting. Eventually, a chorus of croaking was heard as the group walked under a bunch of trees. Sunlight broke through the blanket of green in skinny rays. They were about midway through the patch of trees when they looked up, curious about the sounds. Many frogs were perched in the branches above, making their noise as if they were one big black and green orchestra._

_"Woah…" The bee said in awe. "I wonder how they all got up there."_

_"Jumped up. How else?" Trent said, glancing at him before looking up again._

_"Hmph!" Eddie crossed his arms. "I wouldn't mind having strong legs like that. Fighting would be so much easier."_

_"You said it, mate." The croc agreed. "Come on. We're wasting time."_

_As they moved on, several frogs watched Scotty from the canopy of branches with interest. They've never seen a bigger bug in the forest before. He looked almost as big as a Thanksgiving turkey to them! And just as juicy and delectable too. The bee looked tasty and fit for a king! Licking their chops in hunger, those that saw Scotty leapt from the trees and followed him slowly, as if they were lions getting ready to pounce on their prey._

_The detectives were almost out of the patch when Eddie stopped, having sensed something. The others stopped and looked at him in confusion. They were about to ask what was up when he held a finger up to the mouth of his mask, silencing them. He took out a shuriken as the frogs drew closer. When the amphibians were at least five feet away, the chameleon turned to attack. He raised his weapon, preparing to throw it, when he stopped. He pulled up his mask and blinked in confusion at the sight of the frogs._

_"Huh?"_

_But then, they trampled all over him and surrounded Scotty! The bee looked around fearfully. Those frogs looked mighty hungry… Their tongues were hanging off their mouths, which were drooling like waterfalls. Their pupils were dilated in delirious glee. They were panting like dogs would when presented with a slab of meat. In other words, it was mealtime, and Little Scotty was on the menu!.!.! The poor insect sweatdropped and went blue in the face._

_"Uhhh… N-n-n-nice f-f-froggies…" He said with a shudder. He had dropped the net and was hovering around. He gulped loudly as he continued to watch each of the famished frogs. This of course obtained the same effect as dangling the previously mentioned slab of meat over a pack of hungry dogs. The frogs were hopping in place, driven mad by the bee's unintentional teasing._

_"Scotty, get away from them!" Trent called frantically. "They're gonna eat ya, mate!"_

_"WHAT!.?.!" The boy screamed._

_"Ya heard him!" Eddie yelled. "Fly away quickly, little one!"_

_"Ok!" Scotty nodded._

_He was about to make his escape when the unthinkable happened. One of the frogs lashed out its tongue and ensnared him!.!.! The poor bee struggled to get free, but it was useless. The reptile retreated its tongue, taking Scotty with it!.!.! The unfortunate child was taken into its mouth and eaten alive! Trent and Eddie gaped in disbelief at the whole thing. Little Scotty, the sweet, slightly annoying boy they've knew for nearly a week, was taken away from them in an instant. They sniffled at the loss of their friend and partner._

_Smiling happily, the frog that just ate Scotty began to hop away while the other frogs sulked in jealousy. Just then, there was a rumbling in the lucky one's mouth. It looked at the camera with a wide-eyed look. Its mouth was shaking greatly, like something wanted to get out. Its eyes watered in pain as he struggled to keep its mouth shut. Soon, it wasn't able to take it anymore. With a croak of pain, it reared back and spat out Little Scotty!.!.!_

_"Ewwwwwww… Froggy drool…" He groaned, trying to rid himself of the sticky fluid he was dripping. Trent and Eddie shook their heads and grinned._

_"Scotty! You're alright!" The former exclaimed._

_"Hmph!" The latter crossed his arms. "I knew he'd be ok."_

_"Yeah right." Trent scoffed. "You were ready to go beat up that frog."_

_Eddie was at a loss. He simply turned away from the smirking croc with a slight blush on his face. Meanwhile, Scotty was smiling at him._

_"Is that true, Mr. Ninja?"_

_"Uhhh… Erm…" The older one stuttered, making the smallest member grin._

_"Aw that's ok! I'm glad you—"_

_The bee couldn't finish for he was captured and swallowed by another frog. He was ready though. He mercilessly stung the amphibian's mouth until it let him go. Right after he was spat out, however, he was eaten by another frog. He too stung that one until he was set free, only to get eaten **again**. The pattern continued for a good thirty minutes before Trent and Eddie, bored with the show, stepped in, grabbed the boy and the chao, and ran for it, the frogs in high pursuit._

°°End Flashback°°

"I never wanna see another frog every again…" Scotty commented with another shudder.

"Yeah, same here. I've had my fill of frogs for one trip…" Eddie added with a groan.

"Let's go!" Trent ordered, already walking away. "Did you two forget we're still lost?"

"Ugh! He just _had_ to remind me…" The chameleon said, slapping his head as he followed.

"Why do _I_ have to carry this thing?" The youngest member of the team sighed, dragging the chao again.

The trio traveled along for a few moments before they reached a clearing. Screaming was heard as they approached. It was getting louder with each passing second. The detectives looked at each other and grinned. There was someone else in this forest that can help them! Soon, Team Rodriguez emerged, fighting again. Even Cheese was getting into the action as it squeaked at its teammates.

"I told you we shoulda made that left turn!.!.!" Clio shouted at Keoni.

"Chao!"

"And _I_ told you that left turn woulda had us going in circles, cuz!.!.!" The cat barked back (which is kinda ironic if you think about it…).

"Chao!.!.!"

"Well, we're STILL lost, ya lame-os!.!.!" Mackenzie roared.

"CHAO!.!.!"

"Will you shut that thing up!.?.!" The hedgehog and cat ordered.

"I've been _trying_ to for the last hour!.!.!" The rabbit snapped.

"**CHAO!.!.!**"

"SHADDAP!.!.!" All three of them roared at the chao, who only squeaked back just as loudly.

The detectives sweatdropped as the trio in front of them continued to argue and bicker. They all looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"So who's gonna go over there?" Scotty asked. "I don't wanna get too close to them…"

"_I'm_ not going! You can forget it!" Eddie shouted.

"And you call yourself the Prince of the Netherworld…" Trent rolled his eyes. "I'll go. Just cover me." He walked towards the fighting team.

"Very well." The ninja complied, drawing his cape around himself as he followed.

"O-o-o-ok…" The bee trembled, dragging the chao behind him.

When they reached Team Rodriguez, Trent cleared his throat in order to get their attention. The trio stopped their fighting turned towards him.

"Excuse me, Sheila." He said politely to Clio, who was in the middle of her team. It seemed that she was preventing Keoni and Mackenzie from going at it. "I was wondering if I can ask you something."

"If it's about a date, you can forget it." Clio said, turning away from him. "You're not my type. You're not even my species for that matter. Besides, I already got a man."

"Tch, you wish." Keoni muttered.

"A _date_!.?.!" Trent demanded. The hedgehog turned to him. "Whaddya think is, some kinda joke!.?.! We're trying to get outta here and you're going on about a _date_!.?.!"

"Now hand over that chao nice and easy!" Eddie suddenly commanded, pointing at Cheese. The chao in question yelped and hid behind Mackenzie, who held her chin in thought.

"Hmmm… I already got rid of the first one… Why not lose this one too…?" She mumbled to herself. Appalled, the chao flew up and slapped her upside the head. Both of them glared and growled at each other before the rabbit turned and protectively held her pet. "Back off lame-o! This chao's staying with me! Get your own!"

"Eddie! What are you doing!.?.!" The croc hissed. "We _need_ them to show us the way outta here!"

"I _know_ that!" The chameleon retorted. "But if we get an extra chao, the client will pay us more!"

Trent and Scotty blinked at that. "I never thought of that…" They both said.

"Duh." Eddie said, holding his nose up high. "That's why I'm the Prince of the Netherworld. Now let's get that chao!"

"Yeah!.!.!" The others pumped their fists and turned to the other trio.

"Alright, you _girl_!" Scotty shouted in disgust, pointing at Mackenzie. "Hand it over before I have to hurt ya!"

"You and what army, you _boy_!.?" Mackenzie demanded the same way, letting go of Cheese in the process.

"Chao, chao!" It squeaked, floating back up.

"Me and _this_ army!" The bee retorted, raising up his stinger.

"Ha! That little thing's not gonna stop me!" The rabbit scoffed, shaking her fists. "I'm gonna bash ya to next week!"

"Yeah right. You're a girl so you can't fight for beans. Nyah!" He stuck his tongue out at her. Stomping the ground angrily, the girl gritted her teeth at him. Scotty seemed unnerved by this however.

"And why can't a girl fight!.?.!" She shouted.

"Because girls have cooties, so they can't fight!" The bee answered, crossing his arms in midair. "Besides, boys are better than girls so there." He stuck out his tongue again.

"WHAT!.?.!" Mackenzie roared, her temper flaring. "Come down here and say that to my face!" Scotty only laughed at her.

"What the—?" Clio said, finally recognizing her cousin's voice. She turned and felt her eyes go wide. "Little Scotty!.?.! What in the world are _you_ doing all the way out here!.?.!"

"Huh?.?.?" The little boy turned to her and gasped. "Cousin Clio!.?.! _You're_ after that Coconutman guy too!.?.!"

"Wha!.?.!" Trent and Eddie exclaimed. They looked from their partner to the rival team and then to each other.

"What do you mean 'too?'" Clio asked.

"Cousin Lars is going after that bad man too!" Scotty answered. "He's with Regina and this really cool robot toy!"

"_Reggie's_ with him!.?.!" The hedgehog shouted in surprise. "Oh man! _Everybody's_ after that guy, huh?"

"Woah, hold it! Who _else_ is after him!.?" Trent demanded.

"Otto, Twister, and Sam." Keoni answered.

"Yay!.!.! Cousin Twister is out here too!.?.!" Scotty cheered, doing a little jig in the air. Clio sweatdropped at that..

"…I guess…" She shrugged. "They were at the city Coconutman took over."

"There's way too much competition." Eddie whispered to Trent, who nodded in response. "I say we get rid of them. That way we can have Dr. Coconutman all to ourselves."

"I hear ya, mate." The leader said. "If they catch him first, the client won't pay us."

With that, he reached up, grabbed the still-dancing Scotty, and pulled him down to their level. They then started to plan.

"Clio cuz." Keoni beckoned his leader towards him.

"Yeah?" The hedgehog said, leaning over.

"We gotta put a stop to those guys before they find Coconutman."

"Are you crazy!.?" Clio hissed. "You want me to _fight_ my little cousin!.?"

"If ya won't, _I_ will!" Mackenzie whispered, joining in the conversation. "That little punk's asking for it!"

"But we can't—"

"Think about it, cuz." The cat said. "We gotta beat them or else we won't be able to rescue Froggy and Chocola." Clio was still hesitant until he added with a smirk, "Think about what Otto would say if you beat Coconutman…"

"Otto…" She blushed darkly before shaking her head. "Alright, alright! We'll fight them." She said exasperatedly. She turned to the rabbit. "Just don't hurt my cousin too much, ok?"

"Hmph! Fine." The younger girl grumbled, crossing her arms.

They then turned to the other trio, only to find that they too were ready to do battle. The leaders stared hard at each other as if daring the other to blink. Noticing that neither team was going to back down, Trent and Clio glowered at each other.

"I don't know who you think you are, but _we're_ going to find Coconutman and bring him down!" The latter declared.

"Oh no you're not, Sheila!" The croc retorted. "_We're_ going to find him and take in the reward for him! That's what we're getting paid for!"

"Paid?" Clio gave him a curious look.

"Yep!" Scotty shouted happily. "We're playing Detective and we're gonna get a big reward for turning in the bad guy—"

"Don't tell 'em that!.!.!" Eddie cut off him by slapping his hand over the bee's mouth.

"No way! I'm gonna find that dork first and whomp him!" Mackenzie shouted.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed.

"Yeah, right! Why don't you run home to your mommy?.!" The ninja teased. The rabbit growled at that.

"Hey! Leave my friends alone!" Keoni demanded.

Scotty looked at both his teammates and their opponents. He soon grinned in anticipation and punched the air.

"Yeah! Time to rock and roll!"

**TEAM BATTLE #3**

**TEAM RODRIGUEZ VS. TEAM SHRELOCK**

Trent and Clio stared the other down as they sized each other up. A few seconds passed before the hedgehog pulled out her Pika-Pika Hammer. The croc's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon.

"No fair! I don't have anything to fight with!" He protested.

"Ha! Defenseless!" Clio shouted, drawing back the mallet. "Hammer Twister!"

She swung her hammer, conjuring up a small tornado. Trent tried to skate away, but it got him first. The swirl of air threw him around and around before tossing him towards the forest. Activating her skates, Clio took off after him. Seeing this as her opportunity, Mackenzie smirked at Little Scotty.

"Alright, you boy, it's time to take out the trash!"

"Hahahahaha!.!.!" Scotty laughed at her. "And how are ya gonna do that, cootie girl? I'm all the way up here and you can't get me! Ha ha!.!.!" And to prove his point, he ascended higher, holding his sides as he kept laughing at the rabbit.

"That's it! You're toast!" Mackenzie bent down, flapped her ears hard, and jumped up. Her ears caught the air, allowing her to fly up towards Scotty with her fist held out. Cheese followed right behind her. The bee continued to laugh until he opened his eyes and gasped.

"UH-OH!.!.!" He screamed, the sight of the irate rabbit closing in causing his eyes to bulge out in fear.

"Now whaddya got to say!.?"

"I say RUN AWAY!.!.!" Scotty scrambled to move just as Mackenzie was level with him. He finally started flying towards the forest, just barely avoiding getting punched. Growling, the girl and chao chased after him.

Meanwhile, Eddie and Keoni were down on the ground glaring at each other. The ninja smirked as he reached into his cape and pulled out some shuriken. They gleamed dangerously in the sunlight. The cat made a noise of slight approval.

"Not bad. Here's mine." He said, bringing out his fishing rod. He swung it around and jabbed the air around him several times in a great display of swordsmanship. He then stood in a defensive stance, holding his "sword" back an inch or so from his face. The chameleon nodded as he pulled down his mask.

"Interesting choice of weapon." He growled out in his tenebrous voice. "Let's see how your pathetic kendo stick fares against my ninja stars of great fury."

Keoni's glare deepened. "I'll show you pathetic! Yah!.!.!" He charged forward.

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'_Ugh!_' Trent grunted, just barely dodging another tornado from Clio. He was currently skating through the forest as fast as his battered legs could carry him. He looked back to see the hedgehog still in hot pursuit. '_She doesn't give up, does she!.?.!_'

"Hammer Twister!" The girl's voice rang out as she used her hammer to knock down a tree. "There's no way I'm gonna lose my chance to get with that hottie Otto! Get back here and fight!"

"Are you crazy!.?.!" The croc yelled back. He quickly darted to the left, narrowly avoiding the huge tree. He rolled along the ground before stopping, getting up on one knee, and taking a frantic look around. Clio was nowhere to be found…

"Oh great…" He said, looking around some more. "Where is she?"

"Hiiiiiiiiii-YAH!.!.!" Clio shrieked, pouncing from nearby bushes. She was holding her hammer above her head, ready to strike! As she drew closer, Trent gritted his teeth, trying to think of what to do.

'_I hate to have to attack a Sheila, but she's giving me no choice!_'

Thinking fast, he jumped back, dodging the attack. Clio slammed her mallet into the ground, causing a great earthquake that made the birds in the trees fly away. While she was stunned from that move, Trent stepped forward and swung his mighty tail. The scaly appendage hit the hedgehog dead center, sending her flying.

"Augh!.!.!" She cried as she crashed into a tree. Her body was imprinted into it.

Taking this as his opportunity, the croc skated towards her with his fist held out. Keeping her eyes shut, Clio struggled to get free. She gritted her teeth and forced an eye open. That was when she saw her opponent closing in for another strike! She immediately doubled her efforts to get free. Trent was getting closer and closer when Clio freed her legs. She planted her feet against the tree trunk and kicked off, causing her to be propelled towards the rival leader. She let out a war cry as she drew back her weapon. The feet separating them became smaller and smaller until…

°CRASH!°

Both fist and hammer collided with each other as their owners landed on the ground. It was a stalemate. They both pushed the other back, trying to gain the upper hand in the battle. A couple of minutes passed with neither animal getting the advantage against the other. They narrowed their eyes before giving one final shove. They pushed away from each other and jumped towards each other to attack again.

More stalemates were caused, making them go at it over and over again. They rammed into each other at least six or seven times, shifting direction all the while, before they changed their strategies. Clio swung her hammer horizontally, which Trent skillfully dodged. He quickly brought his tail out and attempted to hit the girl with it. The hedgehog jumped sideways, avoiding it. The appendage crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater in its wake. Staring wide-eyed at the apparent display of power, Clio skated away from her opponent. The croc gave chase, following her deeper into the forest.

Meanwhile…

"Oh no, oh no!.!.!" Scotty wailed as he buzzed through the canopies above. "I gotta get away from them!" He chanced a glance backwards and gasped.

Mackenzie and Cheese were right on his tail! Their eyes were red with murderous rage!

"YIKES!.!.!" The bee screamed, increasing his speed. "I gotta do something!"

That was when he looked down and noticed four huge purple flowers like the one he and his teammates found back in that power plant. They were arranged in a square-like pattern. He remembered seeing similar flowers on the trek through Las Vegas. He grinned as an idea formed in his mind.

'_I got it!_'

He descended towards the flowers, hoping that his plan would work. When he reached them, he took a quick look skywards to see if Mackenzie had followed him. He wasn't disappointed when he saw the rabbit and chao diving right towards him. Smirking, he turned towards the closest flower and stung it. Immediately, the plant rose and its petals opened, revealing a bluish light. Smiling mischievously, he dove into the light. His body was engulfed by the light and he vanished. The flower closed just as the girl and her pet arrived on the scene. They screeched to a halt and just floated in front of the flower.

"Heh, now you're mine!" Mackenzie declared. "…Just as soon as I open this thing…"

She and Cheese inspected the flower, trying to figure out a way to open it. However, nothing they did could open it. They tried punching it, scratching it, kicking it, biting it, and even shooting it with a laser (o.O)! The flower remained intact and closed. The duo panted for a few moments before Mackenzie stood.

"What's the deal with this thing!.?" She shouted impatiently. "Come out already, lame-o!"

"Chao, chao!" Cheese squeaked as it took its place behind her again.

As they attempted to pry open the flower once again, the plant directly behind them started to rise. They were too busy attacking the flower Scotty went into to notice. When the flower behind them rose to its peak, about level to the rabbit and chao, it opened, revealing Little Scotty. The bee was smiling as he stood in a fighting pose. Without warning, he jumped off the flower and zoomed towards his opponent. When he was a couple of feet away, he positioned his stinger right in front of him. He targeted the bunny's bottom and just let his wings do the work. He flew closer and closer until…

°PHONG!°

"YEOWCH!.!.!" Mackenzie screamed in pain. She flew up, holding her butt in pain. Cheese looked at her in confusion until it heard Scotty's laughter.

"Hahahahahaha!.!.! YES!.!.! I gotcha! Hahahahaha!.!.!" He shouted, holding his sides.

"Ohhhhh…" The rabbit sniffled as the pain finally subsided. She then glared daggers at Scotty as she growled. "Why you…!.!.!"

She dived towards him at top speed hoping to land a surprise attack. Unfortunately for her, the bee looked up and cut his giggling fit short with a gasp.

"Yipe!.!.!" He cried as he flew away. The outraged rabbit attacked with a flurry of punches, which the insect frantically dodged before diving into another flower, disappearing from sight again.

"Oh _great_! Not again!" The girl roared.

She and Cheese pounded away on the flower to no avail. The plant didn't budge for anything. Because they were distracted, Scotty was able to get the jump on them again by kicking his foe. Of course, to an older person, this wouldn't hurt too much. But since Mackenzie was only a year older than him, the attack hurt pretty badly. The bee narrowly escaped getting hit again before hopping into another flower. The rabbit skidded to a stop and stomped the ground in rage. She then turned to her chao, who flinched at the sight of its master's blood red eyes.

"Go make yourself useful and wait by one of the flowers!.!.!"

"Chao!.!.!" Cheese saluted fearfully and did as it was told. It floated by the left flower in the square. It then put up its flipper arms, ready to attack the bee the second he emerged from the flower. Mackenzie snickered as she turned back to the flower.

"Now see ya get me again." She said with a smirk.

'_Ok, if ya say so, cootie girl._' Scotty thought evilly.

He was safe inside that very flower. He used the plant's teleporting properties to warp to the flower directly across from Cheese. The flower to Mackenzie's right slowly rose and opened. When the bee emerged, he looked ahead of himself and to his left. Both the rabbit and chao were preoccupied with waiting for him to pop up. Grinning at his strategy, he took flight and rammed right into Mackenzie. What he didn't count on, however, was that she was ready for him. Before he could fly away again, she grabbed his leg and tossed him skyward.

"Woahhhhhhh!.!.!" He shouted as he spun through the air.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Mackenzie yelled as she flapped her ears and flew towards him.

"Ugh… Gotta hurry…!" Scotty grunted through gritted teeth as he tried to correct himself.

After much struggling against the force of the rabbit's toss, he finally righted himself. …Only to get rammed into by said rabbit again. The bee screamed as he was tossed from the trees and over the clearing where he and his teammates first met Team Rodriguez. He finally got himself flying on his own again, allowing himself to take a breather. Unfortunately, it was short lived for Mackenzie and Cheese emerged from the trees, ready to continue their battle. Scotty was ready for her though. Using the power of their SOAP shoes, they zoomed all over the sky as two blurs.

Meanwhile, down below, Eddie and Keoni were really going at it! They were skating alongside each other as fast as they can go, glaring at the other menacingly. The ninja was throwing more shuriken than he knew he had at the cat! Keoni skillfully batted away the stars with his fishing rod. His rod was like a blur as it went back, forth, and in multiple directions to deflect anything the chameleon tossed at him.

Growling at his enemy's successful blocking, Eddie increased his throwing speed. Now the stars were coming at double the speed! Keoni tried his best to dodge and smack away the lethal stars, but he was soon overwhelmed. The "swordsman" soon resorted to actually moving his body to avoid getting hit. He jumped, slid, and even tried stopping at times to dodge. Nothing worked; the chameleon followed his movements almost perfectly.

Keoni was growing desperate when he remembered one of his weapon's most important features. He waited for a break in Eddie's attack before he grabbed the rod with both hands. He pushed one of them forward, revealing his umbrella! It expanded to full capacity. The ninja blinked before glowering and beginning his assault again. Thinking fast, Keoni spun the umbrella in front of him. The shuriken bounced off the fast moving barrier towards their master.

Gasping in surprise, Eddie skidded to a stop and held his arms in front of himself. Luckily for him, his ninja stars merely struck the ground around him. Unfortunately though, his opponent saw this as a perfect opportunity. He turned towards the chameleon, closed his umbrella, and jumped towards him with his rod held high above his head.

Meanwhile, Eddie put down his arms and surveyed the area. He then looked at his cape for any signs of damage. He breathed a sigh of relief soon after.

"Whew… Not a single hole in it…" He blinked and look around. He then said in his creepy voice, "But where's the interloping feline!.?.!"

"Right here, brah!" The ninja looked up and felt his eyes widen at the sight of Keoni, who was coming in for the attack. "Hiiiiiiiiiii-yaaaaaaaaah!.!.!"

°WHAM!.!.!°

He slammed his fishing rod into the side of Eddie's body, tossing him towards a nearby tree. The Prince of the Netherworld collided into it with a sickening slam that echoed throughout the forest. When he was able to feel again, he glared at the cat and growled in anger. He soon blinked and smirked behind his mask. He kicked off the tree and brought his arms around himself.

"Leaf Whirl!.!.!" He cried.

A tornado of dead leaves encircled him. Keoni, not knowing what to expect, held his rod in defense. He watched the attack closely, waiting for any sign of movement. But there wasn't any. After a moment or two, the tornado faded out of sight, along with Eddie. Eyes widening, the cat looked around himself cautiously as he stepped backwards.

°POW!°

"Augh!" He shouted as he felt a strong punch knock him to the ground. Keoni quickly sprang up and swung his "sword," only to hit air. Evil laughter was heard soon after. The cat looked around again.

"Show yourself!" He shouted to the trees.

He was answered with a sharp kick sending him to the ground again. He hurriedly countered by sweeping his rod in an attempt to trip his invisible foe, but again missed. He climbed to his feet, only to see some ninja stars flying towards him! Thinking fast, Keoni put away his rod and somersaulted backwards to avoid the strike. More shuriken came from every direction! The cat slapped his head.

"This just isn't my day…" He groaned, pulling out his rod again.

He swung his "sword" around in an effort to deflect the projectiles. He managed to bat away many of them, but they were still coming in full force! Soon becoming tired from all the deflecting, he decided to forego his previous strategy in favor of darting around the stars. He pulled off some sweet moves as he dodged them. He darted to his left and right, often swinging the rod when one or two strays were coming towards him. He performed many baseball slides to just barely avoid any shuriken that were too high to jump over.

When the stars began to focus on his back, Keoni ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards a tree. Many times, he had to jump forward and roll along the ground to avoid the lethal weapons as he continued towards the tree. Once he reached it, he darted up it, the stars on his tail. He soon jumped off it and batted away the ninja's weapons with wild swings of the rod.

As soon as he landed, the deadly flurry ended, allowing the tired cat a few precious seconds to regain his breath. He no sooner caught his breath when he heard footsteps. They were slow and light, but they didn't escape Keoni's ears for a second. Grinning at this fact, he closed his eyes and held his fishing rod at arm's length in front of him with both hands. He stood perfectly still, willing himself to breathe silently lest he became too loud to hear his opponent draw nearer. The fight between the two flying members high above was long forgotten as was the other battle taking place in the forest. He closed off all unnecessary distractions as he tried to pinpoint the cloaked ninja's position.

Pit pat…

PIT pat…

PIT PAT…

His footsteps grew steadily louder and louder with each passing second. The wind blew, rippling the trees and grass. Keoni ignored it, trying to pick up the other unmistakable sound.

There! He heard it just now! The sound of fabric dancing in the soft breeze. It was so loud, so deafening that Keoni thought he was going to lose his hearing, but he knew that Eddie was dangerously close. He picked up his head and opened his eyes with a determined glower. He lowered his weapon and then swung it low, connecting with something. He heard a pained gasp followed by a soft thud. Keoni turned and saw the chameleon, no longer invisible, kneeling on the ground, clutching his stomach.

"Curse you…" He hissed through gritted teeth as he glared at the smiling cat. "H-h-h-how did you…?"

The Hawaiian grinned as he took off his helmet and pointed at his ears. "I heard ya coming a mile away, cuz."

"Well, you won't win so easily!" Eddie shouted, jumping up and reaching into his cape. He pulled out a shuriken and pitched it at him. Keoni barely dodged it before charging at him with his rod.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Woah!.!.!" Trent shouted, trying his hardest to dodge Clio's hammer as the two skated through the forest. "Will ya chill already, Sheila!.?.!"

"For the last time," Clio yelled, swinging her mallet like a mad woman. "My name's not Sheila! It's Clio!.!.! HA!.!.!"

She conjured up a tornado and tossed it at the croc. It connected, sending the New Zealander rocketing through the trees until he crash landed in the very clearing Keoni and Eddie were battling in.

Meanwhile, in the sky above, Scotty was having a tough time avoiding Mackenzie's punches and kicks as well as Cheese's tackles.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man!" He screamed as he flew around the attacks.

"Stand still already, ya little brat!" The girl shouted, not letting up her attack.

"Chao!" Cheese supplied.

"No way! You got cooties!" The bee retorted.

He turned and desperately tried to sting the rabbit, but Mackenzie grabbed his leg and swung him downwards. If that wasn't bad enough, she followed up with a strong kick, sending him spiraling towards the ground. Poor Scotty tried to regain control, but it was useless. He crashed into the ground, causing a crater to be formed by where Trent landed.

While that was going on, Keoni and Eddie were zooming all over the field, ramming into each other. It was clear that the latter was still mad at the former for that surprise attack earlier. He was doing everything in his power to get revenge on the cat. It took everything Keoni had to defend himself against the ninja's aggravated assault. He got cut a few times and some of the stars even got themselves stuck to his fishing rod. They fought each other inside the glade's perimeter, striking each other as they bounced from tree to tree. They were purple and black blurs as they fought to bring down the other.

Soon, nearly every tree in the vicinity had at least one shuriken embedded into its bark. Within moments, Eddie finally ran out of ninja stars to throw and thus resorted to hand to hand combat. He managed to land a few punches and kicks into his opponent, but Keoni, who was undoubtedly the stronger of the two, easily overpowered the chameleon. He pushed the ninja back towards the clearing before finally casting him down with a hard downwards kick. Eddie was sent rolling to where his teammates were reeling. Team Rodriguez congregated on the trio, getting into fighting poses.

"You're beaten! Now get outta here!" Clio demanded.

"Yeah! Before I have to mess ya up some more!" Mackenzie added.

"Chao, chao!" Cheese supplied, holding up its flippers like fists.

"Ya heard the lady! Beat it, players!" Keoni yelled, holding up his rod, now free of shuriken.

"No way!" Trent barked as he and the rest of his team stood.

"Yeah! We're not gonna lose to you, ya bad guys!" Scotty shouted, preparing to battle some more.

"You can't defeat us, you meddling kids! And that chao too!" Eddie roared.

Sweatdropping, everyone faced him.

"Ran out of stuff to call 'em, mate?" Trent asked him. The chameleon pulled up his mask and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish look.

"Heh, heh… Yeah, I guess so. Sorry…"

Clio sighed and turned to Keoni. "Could you please do the honors? I'm getting a headache."

"Right, cuz!" The cat replied, causing the hedgehog to glare at him.

"Not helping."

"Heh, sorry." He said, sweatdropping.

He then turned to the opposing team, holding his rod straight up. The jewel on his flame ring lit up, causing fire to surround his fishing rod. He roared as he jumped up and pointed his weapon downwards. He then stabbed the ground, sending a flaming crack towards Team Sherlock, who wasn't even aware of the oncoming attack. When it reached them, the crack spilt in two and encircled the team.

Blinking at the sudden increase in temperature, Trent, Little Scotty, and Eddie looked down. The very ground the reptiles were standing on cracked and collapsed, sending them falling down a deep canyon towards a river of molten lava!

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" Trent and Eddie screamed.

"Oh no!.!.!" Scotty shouted. He was unaffected since he was flying. Wasting no time, he dove down towards his teammates. Clio gasped in fright.

"LITTLE SCOTTY!.!.! NO!.!.!"

She ran towards the massive hole, followed by the others. When they reached the edge, they looked over and watched what was happening. The brave bee was descending lower and lower into the huge crater, reaching out a hand towards his comrades. He shouted at Trent, who was closer, to reach out to him. Looking up and following the boy's instructions, the leader held out his hand towards Scotty's. He then looked down at Eddie and told him to grab on. Taking a break from screaming in total fright, the ninja desperately grabbed the croc's tail with both arms and held on tightly.

The flying member of the team increased his speed and quickly caught up to his leader. He grabbed the bigger reptile's huge hand with both of his tiny ones, immediately stopping his teammates from falling any further. Scotty flapped his small wings faster, slowing ascending higher and higher. It seemed that they were safe.

But then, the walls of the hole started to close! Panicking, the bee pushed himself to his limits to fly him and the others out of the rapidly closing crevice. Despite this and the encouraging, if one can call them that, screams of the reptiles, Scotty was too tired to make the trip. The fight against Mackenzie severely drained his energy and the heat was starting to get to him. He gritted his teeth as he fought to hang on for as long as it took.

It seemed that all hope was lost when the bee looked up. To his left, just a few feet away, was a warp flower just like the ones he was using earlier! He grinned at the plant that seemed to reach out to him like an angel's hands reach out to those in dire peril. With renewed strength, he pulled his team over to the flower and pressed his stinger to it. The flower's petals opened and a beautiful light engulfed the trio. Without a moment to spare, they flew deeper into the light just as the hole closed with a mighty slam.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief at what she witnessed, Clio let loose tears of happiness as she sat there on the forest floor. Her youngest cousin was safe! She wasn't sure where the boy and his friends went, but that didn't matter. He was far from danger! Wiping her tears and standing up, she and her teammates continued on their journey through the forest in silence.

Meanwhile…

"**AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!.!.!**" Team Sherlock screamed as they skated/flew for their lives. They were being chased by a bunch of wild crocodiles!

"Whose bright idea was it to put that stupid flower in the middle of a swamp full of huge crocs!.?.!" Trent roared.

"Don't look at me!.!.!" Eddie shouted. "Why don't you go and talk some sense into them!.? They're your species! Maybe they'll listen!"

"Are you nuts, mate!.?.! They'll eat me alive!.!.!"

"AHHHHH!.!.! I want my mommy!.!.!" Little Scotty wailed.

"**GET US OUTTA HERE!.!.!**" They all cried as they ran off into the horizon.

To be continued…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part One

The scene opened in my trailer. Explosions and running water could be heard outside. There was also the occasional earthquake, no doubt caused by my fan character's new powers.

"We gotta stop Izzy!" I shouted to Iggy as we walked inside. I had recovered my strength during the chapter and managed to get back to the studio. My clothes were still damaged from the battle earlier, but that wasn't my main concern right now.

"But how are we gonna do that, Daddy?" The hedgehog asked, walking over to a window. "I mean Izzy's so much more powerful because of that Dark Chip!"

Outside, Izzy was flying over the studio blasting random buildings. Many of the facilities were on fire and it took everything the fire department had to put out the flames while fending off the furry at the same time. He was cackling insanely as he displayed his newfound powers while flying like a vulture waiting for its next meal to die.

Shuddering, Iggy walked over to the chest, where I was standing hunched over.

"What are you looking for, Daddy?"

"I'm trying to find the battle chips we need to take Izzy down."

"But what could stop pure darkness?" The furry asked nervously.

"Why light of course." I answered, still rummaging through the chest. "And what better source of light than the sun itself?"

Iggy's eyes widened. "The _sun_?.?.? We're gonna go to outer space to stop Izzy!.?.!"

"Nope." I said, pulling my head out with a smirk. I was holding a handful of chips in my left hand. "My plan requires us to be a little closer to home." I opened my hand, revealing six battle chips. I put three of them into my pocket and handed the other three to Iggy. "We're going to harness the power of the sun in a grand double program advance."

"A program advance? Which one?"

I chuckled as I clenched a fist. "The Piledriver." Iggy gave me a strange look, but I simply winked, confident that things will work out. "Here's the plan…"

Later…

"Bwahahahahahaha!.!.!" Izzy roared with laughter as fires blazed all around him. He was floating in the middle of the back lot, watching his handiwork from a front row seat. "I finally defeated the boss! There's only one more thing to do before I obtain true happiness and that's to destroy Blondie using the powers of my Dark Chip! Gwahahahahaha—"

"Wave battle chip in!" I shouted, jumping down from a nearby rooftop as I put in the chip. "Download!"

My hammer crashed into the ground, causing a giant wall of water to rise and move towards Izzy. It extinguished all the flames until just the dark hedgehog was the only thing left standing before it. He smirked as he raised his sword.

"Yah!.!.!" He slashed the wave, causing it to part in two. Doing this also caused his weapon to fire a blade of energy at me. Thinking fast, I grabbed a new battle chip.

"Yo-yo battle chip in! Download!" My hammer transformed into a spiked yo-yo, which I tossed at the closest building. Once it stuck to the wall, I had it pull me up, just barely avoiding the counterattack.

"Hmph! So you finally recovered, huh?" The ebony one said.

"Yeah!" I replied as I jumped back onto the ground. My mallet turned back to normal. "And we're gonna finish this once and for all!"

"How right you are!" Izzy yelled, raising his sword again. He was about to strike when…

"Aqua Tower battle chip in! Download!" Iggy's voice cried as he made an entrance much like mine.

He slammed his mallet onto the ground on Izzy's left, making a great geyser erupt and move towards his brother. The water got rid of the fire on his side of the arena, but Izzy easily blocked the attack by holding up his right hand, which contained a battle chip of his own.

"Dark Aura battle chip in! Download!"

He inserted the chip into his sword's hilt. Seconds later, a black barrier encased him, effectively defending him. He then looked at me before facing his younger brother.

"So you're both gonna try a two pronged attack against me, huh?" He snickered, preparing to attack again. "That's just fine. Use whatever tactic you _want_!"

He was getting ready to swing again.

"Now Iggy!" I ordered, taking out two battle chips. Iggy did the same.

"Sanctuary and Life Aura battle chips in! Double download!" We said at the same time.

Once our chips were inserted, hundreds of Holy Panels coated the entire area as purple barriers surrounded Iggy and me. Due to the angelic power of the panels, Izzy's Dark Aura shattered and white electricity crackled around him. He threw his head back in pain as he was lowered onto the ground. He was forced to kneel to keep himself from falling.

"GAH!.!.! What's this!.? I'm getting weaker!.? YEOW!.!.!" He grunted as he tried to move to no avail. "I'm _paralyzed_ too!.? This is just great! Get me outta here!.!.! OW!.!.!"

"Now's our chance, Iggy!" I shouted, running towards the disabled furry. Iggy followed suit. We stopped a few feet away and took out the three most vital chips to my plan. I looked at the trembling boy. "You ready!.?"

"Y-y-yeah!" Iggy answered with a gulp. "Let's hurry before he gets outta that!"

"Right!" I nodded, holding my left hand above my head. The light hedgehog did the same.

"Gun Del Sol One, Two, and Three battle chips in! Triple download!"

We inserted the chips in the correct order, allowing us to obtain the desired effect. A golden energy covered our mallets immediately after the last chip was put in. It was near blinding so we had to hold our hands over our eyes. At the same time though, the light felt warm, as if the sun's rays were warming up my spirit and driving away the dreadful cold Izzy's soul of darkness caused.

I closed my eyes and embraced the warmth. It felt heavenly and inviting, like nothing can ever harm me if I held on to the light. I soon opened my eyes and turned to find Iggy lost in his own world. It seemed that he too felt safer in the golden light, protected from his evil brother. I frowned at him before shaking my head. We still had a job to finish.

"C'mon Iggy, let's do it!" I shouted. Iggy opened his eyes and put on a determined look as he turned to me.

"Ok Daddy!"

We both held up our golden hammers, letting them gleam in the sunlight.

"Program Advance: Piledriver!"

We slammed our mallets into the ground, allowing the Holy Panels to suck in the gold energy. A huge green rune encircled Izzy soon after. On the perimeter of the circle were four bigger circles that were facing the four cardinal points. Iggy and I then held up our hammers to the great sun above. Again, they began to glow with a golden aura.

"You remember that word I told you to say, right Iggy?" I asked him.

"Yeah!" The hedgehog replied with a nod.

"Scream it out as loud as you can!"

We both took a deep breath before yelling out…

"**TAIYOUUUUU!.!.!**"

As soon as the word left our lips, four ancient looking columns rose out of the circles in the rune. On top of each of them was what appeared to be satellite dishes. The hammers' glowing grew blinding again, but we never wavered.

"**TAIYOUUUUU!.!.!**" We repeated.

The stone satellites began to charge up sunlight. Slowly, they glowed with white energy. It was a beautiful sight to see. Soon, the satellites were as bright as a solar eclipse. The sun's light was magnified tenfold! Iggy and I gritted our teeth as we struggled to keep it together.

"**T-T-T-T-TAIYOUUUUU!.!.!**" Our voices quavered slightly.

The ground shook as the satellites moved into position. They all targeted the middle of the rune, where Izzy was reeling. The dark hedgehog gasped when he realized what was happening. He looked around himself before facing me.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh no?" I challenged, keeping my eyes shut. "TAIYOU!.!.!"

The two satellites in front of and behind Izzy charged even more energy into them! Eyes widening, the winged furry squeezed his fists and concentrated all of his energy into escaping. The white lightning crackling around him soon turned black as did the Holy Panels generating the energy. The hedgehog's eyes glowed a dangerous red as he felt his stamina returning. He stood up and floated above the air again.

"Daddy!" Iggy cried, cracking open an eye. "He's going to get away!"

"Oh no he's not!" I replied. "Now!.!.!"

"**TAIYOUUUUU!.!.!**"

With that final shout, all four satellites fired the charged up sun energy at Izzy. All of them connected, causing the dark one's body to glow brightly. He threw his head back and screamed in agony. Iggy and I grinned in victory. It seemed that it was finally over.

"Heh, heh, heh! Hahahahahahahahahaha!.!.!" Izzy roared with laughter. We snapped our eyes open and turned to him.

He was _blocking_ the attack!.!.! A slim layer of darkness was standing between him and the sun energy!.!.! Lightning was crackling all around him. He grinned evilly when he noticed our looks of horror.

"You actually thought I was down and out!.?" He snickered. "Clearly you boys underestimate the power of the Dark Chip! YAH!.!.!"

With that, the thin wafer-like layer of dark energy grew into a barrier, drawing back the sun lasers! Immediately, Iggy and I felt a great strain coming from our mallets. They were quickly losing strength! We grabbed our weapons with both hands and concentrated, praying that the Piledriver would overcome Izzy's awesome power. The black started to hit the streams of white when…

°BZZZZZZTPT!.!.!°

"What the—!.?.!" Izzy shouted. "YEOWCH!.!.!"

"Huh?.?.?" Iggy and I opened our eyes to see what was going on.

A single ring was stuck on the winged hedgehog's barrier. It was crackling electricity, which seemed to be shocking him. Izzy's darkness seemed to retreat a bit as a result. The ring soon ran out of juice and fell to the ground with a clang. Glaring and his body smoking, he looked up and around.

"Who threw that!.?.!" He demanded.

"I did!" A familiar voice responded as footsteps approached. As they got louder, Izzy snarled.

"_You!.!.!_ Figures _you'd_ come when I'm unable to touch you!"

Because we were still trying to force back Izzy's power, Iggy and I were unable to see the newcomer, not that we didn't know who he was.

Sam walked in front of Izzy, preparing to grab another fake ring from his satchel.

"What do you think you're doing, fox-brat!.?.!"

"It's pretty obvious, don't you think? I'm going to stop you!" The fox replied, pulling out a ring. He reached back and pitched it at his rival, shocking him again. As the paralyzing electricity crackled around his body, the darkness retreated even more. I looked and blinked when I understood what he was doing.

"Izzy needs to concentrate in order to block the Piledriver." I said under my breath. "So Sam is distracting him to give us a chance. Iggy!" I turned to the boy in question. "Don't give up! We're almost there!"

"O-o-o-ok, Daddy!" Iggy complied through gritted teeth.

"**TAIYOUUUUU!.!.!**" We shouted, increasing the beams' power. Izzy gasped when he noticed how much harder it got to hold his shield.

"I'm not gonna lose!" He declared, increasing his own power.

"Oh no you don't!" Sam yelled before pelting him with ring after ring.

The shocking effects of the golden bracelets were too much for Izzy to handle. His darkness kept diminishing further and further until just a sliver was remaining like before. Iggy and I smirked at the desperate hedgehog before turning to each other and drawing another deep breath.

"**TAIYOUUUUU!.!.!**" We shouted one final time.

The solarbeam made one final push, shattering Izzy's last defense! He body glowed a hot white as his screams filled the entire area. After a few moments, there was a black puff of smoke in the crossfire before the beams finally disappeared, having done their job. Izzy, who was no longer black, but purple and wingless, dropped to the ground. His legs were wobbling weakly. There was a dizzy expression on his face. He was stumbling around drunkenly. He was burnt in some areas, but otherwise, he was ok. The Dark Sword transformed back into his mallet before spitting out the cause of all this. The soul of darkness that possessed him left his body and returned to the Dark Chip. As if controlled by that very soul, the chip floated back to Izzy's pouch, where it was safe and sound.

"Heh, heh, heh…" He chuckled shakily. "That Dark Chip really packs a wallop! Ohhhh…" He fainted.

"_Izzy logging out._" The casual computer voice said as his body disappeared. All three of us sighed with relief and before walking over to each other.

"Thanks a lot, Sammy-Sam!" Iggy cheered, hugging the fox boy. He nuzzled his head against Sam's chest in gratitude.

"Uhhh… You're welcome?" Sam said, sweatdropping at the hedgehog's affection.

"Whew… I'm so glad that's over…" I sighed with relief. "I'm beginning to wonder if bringing over these battle chips was such a good idea…" I shook my head before turning to the camera. "Anyway, see ya next time, folks! Here's hoping we have as much action in the next half of the chapter!"

All of us waved goodbye. Well, I did anyway. Iggy was still hugging a freaked out Sam, who couldn't even move his arms.


	22. Team Tussle Two, Part 2, 1

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Two

We open this conversation in the No Worries Pictures Studios…or what's left of it, anyway… The majority of the place was in shambles following Izzy's little power surge. Many of the buildings that were still standing were in terrible disrepair. It seemed as if they may collapse at any moment. Debris, upturned earth, and the occasional cow(!.?.!) were everywhere. The entire backlot was full of trailers that housed the various film crews, actors, and of course, the two brothers and me. It was a real shame looking at the place. It looked as if it was a war zone or at the very least like a tornado smashed it, trampled it, crushed it, and just for kicks, took the watertower and dumped it in some faraway land with witches, flying monkeys, midgets, roads made out of yellow blocks, and one cowardly lion! Oh my!

But with the occasional disaster comes an opportunity to start over, rebuild, start from scratch, save the game before the huge and super hard boss battle and hit the Reset button when ya lose, and of course erase the mistakes of the past! (Not games mind you! MISTAKES!.!.! There's a difference between erasing games and erasing the past, people!.!.!) Already, the seeds of revival have been planted. All over the studio, reconstruction has begun. The Glorft, our alien servants sent oh so thoughtfully to us by our pal, Warior, have been, in addition to cleaning up the mess, working on the frames of the new buildings and reinforcing them. Luckily, by using their advanced technology, they managed to fix it so that all of the studio's facilities will be strong enough to withstand a nuclear bomb—and judging by how often Izzy blows his top, I'm sure we'll need it!

Oh, and speaking of the irritable hedgehog, he was grunting and groaning as he lifted wood, steel, and other materials to the workers. He was covered in sweat, tears, dirt, grime, and strangely, nacho cheese (it was just a little past lunchtime). Instead of his usual attire, he was wearing a black fez, a black and white striped vest, and a huge ball and chain on his right ankle as well as an average pair of sneakers. Needless to say, the large piece of jewelry on his leg was making it difficult to transport materials to everyone. He got a lot of slack from the construction crew because he was taking too long getting everybody what they needed.

The new footwear wasn't making things much easier. After all, Iggy was the one that got the shoes for him to replace the air skates. Izzy wasn't allowed to use the coveted shoes to zip from one point to the next as punishment for his latest indiscretion. He cringed every time he took a step forward. This was mainly because of the fact that not only did he have to adjust to his new kicks, but Iggy got him shoes that were a size smaller than his older brother's feet! According to the little boy, it would make Izzy look thinner—and, again according to him, the older furry was beginning to look a little rounder, an offense that Izzy would've been more than happy to rectify if only he had his mallet and battle chips. But alas, I took both away from him after catching him.

"Aw Boss, have mercy!" He begged as he walked by Iggy and me yet again. He was pushing a rather large cart filled with wet cement. "At least let me have my air skates back! This is torture!"

I took a long sip from my cherry soda and sat up from my beach chair. I gave the boy a look over and tipped my sunglasses forward. After a brief moment, I put them back on and leaned back against the chair.

"Sorry Izzy." I replied casually. "Ya know the penalty for not only disobeying your creator, but _destroying_ a studio that doesn't even _belong_ to us."

As expected, the boy growled and muttered some curses. I only gave him a look of irritated impatience. Noticing the look, he sighed reluctantly and put on a look of forced calm, and even _that_ was putting it lightly for someone like Izzy.

"Hmph! That's better." I said, dropping my glower and relaxing again. I took another sip from my drink and sighed. "Ya know, you should really consider yourself lucky this is all I'm making you do."

"Oh?" Izzy started sarcastically. "And why, pray tell, should I?"

"Well…" Iggy cut in, taking a break from licking his ice cream. He pulled out my copy of Dimension Hopper Rules, Tenth Edition (Don't ask why _he_ had it). He flipped a few pages before yelling out "FOUND IT!.!.!" He cleared his throat and prepared to read as I, Izzy, and everyone else in a ten mile radius tried to recover their hearing. "'Rule Five Hundred Eighty-Seven: An author's partner may _never_ attack, kill, disembowel,—whatever that means—or otherwise bring harm to said author.'"

"…" If he had eyebrows, Izzy would raise them. "And…?.?.?"

"I'm getting to it!" Iggy snapped before looking back in the book. "'If the partner in question'—that's you by the way—" Izzy growled at him in response, causing him to yelp and get back to reading. "'—attacks the author or for that matter, disobeys _any_ order given, the author may exercise his right to not only punish said partner in any way he chooses, but also, in the case of subsequent violations, may be assigned a _new_ partner and have the old one incarcerated in the proper detainment facility'—that's jail—'in the partner's original dimension for as long as said author shall live.'"

I gave my younger fan character a curious look before shrugging.

"Heh, I didn't know you could pronounce words like 'subsequent,' Iggy." I gave the little hedgehog a thumbs-up. "Good job."

"Thanks Daddy!" Iggy shouted with a huge grin. He then puffed out his chest proudly. "I've been paying attention in school!"

"And it shows too! Keep up the good work, kiddo!" I said, ruffling his quills playfully. The boy giggled in response.

Izzy, meanwhile, was pale and shaking after hearing that rule. That only lasted for a few seconds before he went red in anger.

"**Incarcerated!.?.!** They can't do that!" He roared as he stomped around…and then cursed me and Iggy out due to the pain caused by the ball & chain and the uncomfortable sneakers. "What on earth was the reasoning behind _that_ rule!.?.!"

I shrugged. "Probably because violators of the rule are menaces to society, so the only possible place they can go is straight to jail."

"Or in your case," Iggy added, chuckling. "A crazy house."

"BUST!.!.!" He and I shouted before rolling around in laughter. Izzy sweatdropped and put on his usual "charming" look. He turned to the camera and pulled out a sign that read, "What'd I do to deserve this!.?.!" before turning back to us.

"…So I take it I couldn't use my mallet right this moment?"

"Weren't you listening?" I asked, taking a couple of deep breaths to get my laughs out of my system. "I could put you in jail for the rest of my life."

"Yeah!" Iggy agreed. "You don't wanna go _there_!"

"I dunno…" Izzy shrugged and rolled his eyes. "At least I'd be back in the Pokémon Dimension."

"But you'd be in jail!"

"Like last time, I fail to see the threat." The older brother retorted with his arms crossed. Iggy and I merely exchanged exasperated looks before turning back to Izzy.

"Well, I think out little chat is done." I started. "Get back to work."

"Aw! I was hoping you'd forget!" Izzy cried out, tears falling like waterfalls.

"Deal with it." I told him sternly. "Didn't you hear how Mike reacted when he returned to the studio nearly three months ago?" Izzy blinked and glared at me and Iggy.

"I was in the hospital resting no thanks to you two and that stupid fox!"

"Tsk, tsk…" Iggy said, wiggling his finger reproachfully. "Excuses, excuses."

"Not to mention it's a pretty pathetic one." I added, crossing my arms. "Anyway, he was pretty upset by the sounds of it. It's a good thing we got talented workers like you and the Glorft to rebuild the studio and make it good as new." I snickered at that one.

"Yeah!" Iggy cheered, getting the joke. "Make the whole place shine!"

"Yeah, whatever…" Izzy grumbled, going back to pushing that cement cart to the busy workers.

"Ahhh…" I sighed guiltily. "I hate being the heavy…"

"Don't worry about it, Daddy." Iggy comforted. "He'll learn to respect Sammy-Sam. …Someday…"

"Heh, I hope so." I then turned to the camera. "Welcome to Part Two of Chapter Twelve, folks! Sorry we left ya hanging for so long. It's so hard to find time to write the scripts for these fics. Hope you can forgive the long wait because we got some real action and comedy for ya this time!

"When we last left ya, our heroes traveled through the dangerous Frog Forest on a cross country trek that led them to the even more treacherous Lost Jungle. Both areas were full of these giant frogs that can summon rain with just one croak. Sometimes the rain was good and helped the many plants grow, therefore allowing the four teams to move onward. But other times, however, the rain _killed_ the plants, hampering progress for everyone.

"Thankfully, everyone was able to survive the horrifying experience, only to meet up with each other. Due to conflicting goals, the four teams had to fight one another. Team Rodriguez had to take on Team Sherlock in a grand battle royale that ended in a rather…sharp way for the detectives. Now, in not one, not two, but **THREE** parts, we will take a look at the battle between Team Lars and Team Rocket. Who will win this all out brawl between the two strongest sets of furries in Ocean Shores!.?"

"Ugh! My money's on Lars." Izzy grunted as he walked past me and Iggy while dragging a huge plank. We both sweatdropped as we watched him struggle.

"…Anyway…" I started again. "For this first part of the second half of the chapter, we're gonna see just how these two teams got to this point in their journey. Expect to see some misfortune with more giant animals, plenty of screaming, and of course, insult after lovely insult. Enjoy everybody! Oh, and sorry again about the long wait…" I waved at the camera.

"And thanks a lot Mikey-Mike and Mr. Warior for the cool reviews! We'll see ya a bit later!" Iggy added, waving wildly as the screen faded out.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Twelve

Team Tussle Two

Part Two-One

"Ugh! We've been in this forest for _hours_!.!.!" Twister complained. "When do we get outta here!.?"

"How should I know, bro!.?" Otto replied, looking back. "Just keep moving! We'll get outta here eventually!"

"Brrrr… I'm so c-c-c-cold and w-w-wet!" Sam shivered. "What on earth made me decide to come out here with the two of you-you—ACHOO!.!.!"

"Gesundheit!" The other furries said to the sniffling fox.

The hedgehog, echidna, and kitsune were skating through the forest, desperate to find a way out and continue their pursuit of Dr. Coconutman. They were cold, hungry, and especially wet because of those darn frogs! Their quills and fur were sticking to their bodies. The muggy Florida weather was also making them smell as bad as a compost heap! Although they were naturally used to hot conditions, they couldn't take the humidity! Their sweat mixed in with the water, making hard for them to breathe, not to mention heavier. It became increasingly harder to maintain a steady pace. Sam started to fall back when he spoke up.

"Otto…" He breathed as they reached a clearing that was next to a lake. "Do you…think we can…take a…break!.?"

"Are you kidding!.? We're making good time!" The leader answered.

"C'mon Ottoman… I'm wiped… Let's stop for a sec…" Twister panted.

"Oh alright, you big babies!" Otto shouted, throwing up his hands. He then skidded to a stop, followed shortly after by the others. "Five minutes! Got it!.?"

"Got it…" The others said with a sigh as they prepared to relax for a few precious minutes. Otto turned away with a huff and walked over to look for some shade.

"I gotta get all this water off of me…" Sam groaned, watching water drip off his right arm. He got on all fours and shook his body like a dog.

"Huh?.?.?" Twister, who was standing right next to the fox, gasped when he saw the torrent of water heading towards him. Putting on an exasperated look, he held his breath and closed his eyes.

°SPLASH!°

"Augh!" The echidna cringed when the abrupt shower ended. He raised his arms and surveyed the "damage" before glaring at Sam. "Squid!"

"Ahhhhh… _Much_ better…" A perfectly dry Sam said as he stood up again. His fur, though dry, was now extremely fuzzy and stuck out everywhere. He blinked and looked at his limbs, belly, and tails. He then sweatdropped and grinned sheepishly at the camera. "Heh, heh… Guess I'm not _quite_ done yet…"

He reached behind him and took out a brush. He took off his still dripping helmet and pads before running the brush through every inch of his fur. He pushed down his unruly coat until it was as good as new. Twister crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as the kitsune brushed the fur between his ears until it went in two separate directions, making him look quite distinguished. He gave the camera a cheesy movie star smile and a wink, causing the others to gag. He put his helmet back on and turned to his teammates.

"Twister," He said, giving the echidna a strange look. "You're all wet!" Said echidna growled dangerously at him.

"Not funny…"

Sam blinked. "_What?_"

"Heh, forget about it, Squid." Otto said. He was laying on a nearby rock, watching their antics. "Twist's just mad because we couldn't take any of those frogs with us."

"Am not!" The spike fisted one snapped. The hedgehog only smirked coolly at him.

"Yeah right. I saw that look on your face whenever we passed one of them. You wanted to take one home to keep as a pet."

"…" Twister went red in the face as he put on a guilty look. "Ok, ok! I wanted one of those frogs so that I can cool off all the time with that rain it can start up. Ya know how hot it gets back home!"

"Was that your _only_ reason?" Sam asked, putting his pads back on.

"Yes…?" He said uncertainly. The other two gave him a skeptical look. Knowing full well he couldn't keep his true motive from his friends, he sighed and said in a small voice, "I wanted to get one so that it could eat Lars…"

"Figures." The fox rolled his eyes. "Like a frog would want to eat _him_."

"I dunno…" Otto shrugged, keeping his smirk on. "I'd love to see that actually happen."

"You would." Sam muttered, looking the other way.

"Man, getting one of those giant frogs woulda been all time!" Twister moaned, shaking his head.

"Get real, Twist! Your mom would _never_ let you keep one!"

"Why not? It could help her out in the garden, couldn't it?"

"…" The fox and hedgehog looked at each other and held their chins.

"I guess…" The latter answered.

"Its rain _does_ seem to promote plant growth…" The former added. He grinned. "Those frogs would be perfect for Ocean Shores! We'd never have to worry about another drought ever again!"

"Get real, Einstein. We can't take any of these frogs."

"Awwwwww…" Sam and Twister groaned, lowering their heads.

"You're right Otto…" The fox concurred. "We can't take the frogs out of their natural habitat, no matter _how_ convenient it'd be for us. We'd be damaging this entire ecosystem."

Twister sniffled. "I can't believe I didn't think of that!" He covered his eyes as guilty tears fell.

"_I_ could…" Sam muttered sweatdropping. The hedgehog gave his best bro a weirded out look before shrugging at Sam.

"Actually, we can't take any of them because we couldn't carry one and deal with Merv at the same time." He clarified.

The fox fell over.

"Oh it's _so_ good to know you got your priorities in mind!" He shouted sarcastically as he stood.

"We're out here to stop Merv from destroying every skate park in the world, _not_ take frogs for your little science experiment!"

"Science experiment!.?.!" Sam demanded hotly. "How dare you!.?"

"I saw ya taking notes Squid! Ya wanted to take those frogs back so that you can dissect them!"

"You were _what_!.?.!" Twister shouted at the fox.

"So what if I was!.?" Sam roared, ignoring the echidna. "If I found out what caused the frogs and every other animal in this crazy forest to grow to immense size, it'd be a scientific breakthrough!"

"What, like that alligator that almost ate us!.?" Otto yelled as he stood on top of the rock.

"Yeah! That woulda been some experiment, huh Squid!.?" Twister supplied. "A lotta good that woulda been _inside_ that thing's stomach!" Sam gulped at the horrible memory.

°°Flashback°°

"_Yaaaaaahooooooo!.!.!_" _Otto shouted as he grinded down a steep vine in the swamp, followed by his teammates._

"_Yeaaaaaaahhhhh!.!.!_" _Twister yelled, crouching to catch up to his best bro._

"_AAAAAHHHHH!.!.!" Sam screamed in fear as he struggled to stay balanced._

"_This is so awesome!" The hedgehog cheered as the vine twisted around a large tree trunk._

"_Yeah!_ _This is so cool!" The echidna agreed._

"_This is so…sickening…" The fox groaned, leaning his head over the water as the vine straightened out._

"_C'mon Squid, lighten up!" Otto yelled back, dancing along the vine._

"_Yeah!_ _Hang loose!" Twister added, following suit. Glowering at them and fighting the urge to vomit again, Sam danced as well to catch up._

"_I already told you! I'll lighten up as soon as we're safe and sound at home! Til then, I want out of this!"_

_The other two boys rolled their eyes at that comment._

"_We haven't seen any robots or frogs for a long time, Sammy." Twister started. "Can't you just chill til we get outta here?"_

"_Yeah!"_ _Otto agreed, looking ahead. There seemed to be a path of swings going over a stream a few yards away. "We're safe. All we gotta do is swing over that bit of swamp and we're done!"_

_Sam blinked and gave his leader a cautious look. "Are you sure?"_

"_Sure I'm sure! Let's hit it!"_

"_Right behind ya, Ottoman!"_ _Twister called after the hedgehog._

"_Oh ok!" The fox said with a sigh. "Wait for me!"_

_The trio continued grinding down the vine until it eventually ended with a jump pad. They were sent hurdling over a bunch of yellow flowery platforms, one of which had a spring pointing towards the swings. Three black frogs were standing on them. As soon as they saw the team of furries, they began to croak!_

"_Crap! Jump for it!" Otto ordered._

"_Woah!.!.!" Twister yelped as he scrambled for the spring._

"_Ahhhh!.!.!_" _Sam screamed._

_Just as the destructive rain fell and destroyed the three flowers, the team jumped and used their homing attack to hit the spring. With three successive boings, they were propelled over the water towards the first swing. Otto reached a hand out and grabbed on. Twister grabbed his legs and Sam grabbed the echidna's. They all breathed a sigh of relief as they swung on that vine._

"_Man that was a close one!" The orange one shouted. "What was the deal anyway!.?"_

"_My guess is they were trying to lead us deeper into the swamp." The yellow one explained. "The question is why?"_

"_Think they knew where Merv is hiding?" The red one asked._

"_I doubt it, Ottoman. They could be leading us into a trap."_

"_Ugh! **Another** one!.?" Twister groaned. "How many more do we have to go through!.?"_

"_Chill dude. We all knew it wasn't gonna be easy. We just gotta keep going." The hedgehog said. "C'mon, let's get outta here. My arms are killing me!"_

"_Ha! Now you know how **I** feel whenever I have to carry you!" Sam teased. The one in the sunglasses glared at him._

"_Let's just move!"_

_With that, the trio swung back and forth, gaining momentum, before jumping to the next swing. They soared through the muggy air and caught the second vine. At the arch of their swing, they let go and flew towards the third swing. They almost slipped when they reached the fourth one, but they were able to hang on and continue on their way._

_They traveled along peacefully for some time. They saw some exotic-looking birds during their trip. Unlike the frogs the group had to deal with, they were actually a normal size. During a transition between trees, Sam took out his notepad and made a note of this fact. He was so busy taking notes that he didn't notice he was falling! Luckily, Twister caught him, but the sudden grab caused the fox to drop his pad. Sam gaped as it plunged towards the water and glared at his friend._

"**_Twister!_** _Those were my notes!.!.!" He protested._

"_Relax Squid." Twister said coolly as they swung to another vine. "You can get another one."_

_Needless to say, this caused yet another argument between the two. Otto sighed exasperatedly and shook his head as he continued his Tarzan act._

_Down below, a pair of scaly and yellow eyes poked through the surface of the water. Those eyes looked way too big and wide to be considered normal. The sinister reptilian orbs surveyed the area for tasty morsels when a low whistling sound was heard. The owner of the eyes didn't have time to look up before the notepad crashed into its head. The water around the eyes bubbled dangerously as a lump formed on the reptile's head. It turned and looked up towards the swinging trio (two of which were still fighting). It glared at them icily before sinking back into the water. A few seconds passed before…_

_°**SPLASH!.!.!**°_

"_And another thing—!.!.!" _

_Sam couldn't finish his rant for a loud roar was heard. The beastly sound caused all movement to cease to a halt. The birds that were perched on trees stopped chirping. Others that were flying froze in midair! At a nest, a worm that was about to become lunch for a young chick stopped its decent into the bird's beak. _

_Team Rocket was affected as well. Their vine froze on the backswing as all the color drained from their bodies, making them transparent to the background as if they were just drawn on the animation cell. They gulped and shuddered as the bellow echoed around them. Their bones creaked as they faced each other._

"_Sh-sh-sh-should_ _we l-l-look…?" Twister asked._

"_M-m-might as well…" Otto said with a shaky nod._

"_Ohhhh_ _man…" Sam trembled in fright. His eyes were closed and tears fell towards the swamp as he squeezed the echidna's legs for safety._

_Bones creaking again and the color returning to their bodies, the trio turned around to face…_

"_It's a **GIANT ALLIGATOR!.!.!**" Sam screamed at the sight of the looming creature. _

_It stood at well over fifty feet tall! Its sharp and lethal teeth gleamed in the sunlight, as did its equally dangerous claws! The reptile looked at them with only one thing on its mind: **LUNCHTIME!.!.!**_

"_SWING FOR YOUR LIVES!.!.!" Otto cried._

"_GET US OUTTA HERE!.!.!" Twister yelled._

"_ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!.!.!" The leviathan lunged towards them with its jaw wide open!.!.!_

"_AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!.!.!" The trio screamed as time unfroze. They quickly swung over to the next vine just as the gator's mouth snapped shut on the vine they were just using!_

"_Of all the things to be gigantic in this forest, we have to deal with an **alligator**!.!.!" Twister started as they narrowly avoided becoming lunch. "Why couldn't it have been a giant bunny rabbit or something!.?.!"_

"_Because it woulda been too convenient!_ _Duh!.!.!" Otto replied as he let go of the vine and grabbed the next one._

"_Those frogs really **were** leading us to a trap!.!.!" Sam shrieked hysterically. "Go faster! FASTER I SAY!.!.!"_

"_I'm trying, I'm trying!.!.!" The hedgehog screamed back as they reached another swing, just barely keeping ahead of the carnivore. He then muttered to himself, "Backseat swinger…"_

"_AHHHHH!.!.! Whadda we do, whadda we do!.?.! We're gonna be gator chow!.!.!" The echidna panicked._

_The alligator began to zero in on the frightened trio before it pounced on them again!_

"_AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!.!.!" Sam did a double take as he looked into the face of death. "Screw this!.!.! I'm taking over!.!.!"_

_With that, he frantically spun his twin tails, barely avoiding getting eaten. The appendages were moving with the speed of a hurricane as he crazily pulled Otto and Twister along the river, the gator in hot pursuit. He was dangling Twister by the legs and the echidna was also holding a screaming hedgehog. The sight of its prey moving around at sixty miles per hour drove the alligator crazy. It had to have its snack NOW!.!.!_

_The hungry lizard doubled its efforts to catch the trio by snapping at them every few seconds! Fortunately, nothing can hit a Squid when he's scared out of his mind. The fox weaved and bobbed and dodged the gator's attacks like a mad person. All four of them were blurs as the chase continued deeper into the swamp._

_The chase finally ended when Sam saw the goal ring getting closer and closer. It was floating over a ridge at the end of the swamp. He looked back and saw that the giant alligator was right on their tails. Try as he might to swerve out of the way, the gator would stay right on their backs. It was determined to have its well deserved meal. Thinking fast, the fox flew along the surface of the water towards the ridge. Otto and Twister panicked at the unexpected maneuver and struggled to stay above the water, lest the huge beast ate them._

"_Squid!_ _What're ya doing!.?.!" Otto yelled, spitting out water._

"_Are ya crazy!.? Pull up!.!.!" Twister added._

"_Don't worry, I have a plan!" Sam told them._

_He continued towards the ridge as fast as his tails could propel them. The alligator abandoned its lunging strategy to follow the trio underwater. As Sam got closer to the goal, a large black shadow appeared just below the surface. Noticing this, the hedgehog and echidna screamed bloody murder. The kitsune stayed on course however._

'**_C'mon…_**' _He thought with gritted teeth. '**Just a few more seconds…**'_

_The yards closed in as the giant's snout broke the surface just below Otto's head. The hedgehog's eyes widened as he went blue in the face. He looked up at the concentrating fox._

"_Squid, pull up before I become the world's first Cajun hedgehog NOW!.!.!" He ordered._

"_Almost there!" The bespectacled furry shouted, nearing the cliff._

_Otto and Twister fearfully looked down. The gator's head was now above the water! It loomed over them and opened its jaw, getting ready to end it! The hedgehog and echidna screamed and yelled at Sam to pull up. Drool fell from the beast's mouth as it reared back, preparing for the final strike._

"_AHHHHHH!.!.! THIS IS IT!.!.!" Twister yelped._

"_NO!.!.! It can't end like this!.!.!" Otto added._

_The kitsune blinked as he was within ten yards of the ridge._

"_NOW!.!.!" He shouted and ascended as quickly as his tails and the weight of his comrades would permit. The trio barely cleared the monster's jaws before landing safely on the ridge._

_As for the alligator, well…_

_Its eyes widened when it noticed it was heading for the wall! It made a screeching sound as it tried to stop itself, but it was going too fast! Eventually…_

_°SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!.!.!°_

_°CRASH!.!.!°_

_°SHATTER!.!.!°_

_Eyes spinning_ _and one huge lump growing out of its head, the defeated gator sunk into the swamp, leaving our heroes to grab the goal ring. The trio panted and brought air into their lungs. Once they regained their breath, they walked over and grabbed the ring, ending the stage for them. They all heaved a sigh of relief as they sat on the grassy ground._

"_Oh man, that was close…" Twister was the first one to speak._

"_Yeah… No kidding…" Otto nodded before turning to Sam. He promptly grabbed his chest fur and pulled him in close. "NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN!.!.! WHEN I SAY 'PULL UP,' **PULL UP**!.!.! GOT IT!.!.!"_

_Sam gulped and nodded. "G-g-g-got it…"_

"_Good…" The hedgehog growled before dropping him. "Now let's go!"_

_Twister stood and walked after him. Once Sam got his breath back, he too stood and followed them. He soon licked his lips and rubbed his sweaty forehead._

"_Whew! After that workout, I could sure use a drink."_

"_It's gonna have to wait, Squid." Otto said, looking back. "There's no clean water anywhere in this swamp."_

"_Uhhh_… _I wouldn't be so sure about that, Ottoman…" Twister said nervously. The others gave him a questionable look._

"_Whaddya mean, bro?"_

_The echidna just pointed up in response. The other two followed his gaze and gasped. There was a bunch of frogs on top of the nearby mushrooms!.!.! And they were all croaking!.!.! The leader put on an exasperated look as he turned to the camera._

"_I hate frogs…" He moaned as thunder clapped and a great shower fell._

°°End Flashback°°

Sam shuddered after Twister told the story. "I-I-I w-w-wonder if we have to w-w-worry about anymore g-g-giant things that shouldn't be giant!.!.!"

Otto shrugged as he jumped off the rock. He spun in midair, causing his own moisture to leave him…and soak Twister. The echidna growled in annoyance as his leader landed and proceeded to groom himself.

"Well, who knows how much further we have to go, but I hear ya, Squid." He said once his quills were straightened out. "Let's get moving guys. I wanna get outta here before it gets dark."

"Y-Y-Yeah…" The fox agreed, nodding shakily. "Who knows what c-c-comes out at n-n-night…"

"Yeah." Otto snickered, facing Twister. "Maybe giant monkeys live somewhere out here." The echidna's eyes widened as the color left his body the same way as during that encounter with the gator.

"GIANT MONKEYS!.?.! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" He screamed before zooming off into the forest, the splotches of color dripping off after him. Otto and Sam sweatdropped and shrugged at each other before following him.

Elsewhere…

Clouds covered the sun, darkening the world as three figures sped through the forest like shadows. One of the figures bounded from tree to tree. It would occasionally hit the ground for a few seconds before returning to the branches above. It was moving as fast as a jet! The second figure flew around the trees after the leader. It was moving at nearly the same speed. As it reached a clearing, it spread its wings, giving it a sinister appearance as it glided across the glade. The final, bulky figure simply hovered along the ground behind the others. It charged forward, not caring about the trees in its way. As it so happened, any and all trees that stood in its way were unmercifully knocked down.

Soon, the trio reached a high cliff and jumped off. As they fell towards the ground, they all held hands and got into a triangle formation, allowing them to glide over to a moss covered ridge that was nearby. Once they landed safely, the sun peered out from behind the veil of clouds to reveal Lars, Reggie, and Pi. The bat and hedgehog were sweating and panting after all that. They've been speeding through the forest for hours with no clue how to get out. The robot, of course, didn't seem to be affected by the trek at all.

"Alright, you kooks…" Lars started. Reggie glared at him, but he ignored it. "Let's take a break before we move on…"

"Ya know," The bat started as Lars sat down. "It wouldn't kill ya to be a little nicer!"

"Pffft! Of course it would." The leader scoffed, crossing his arms. "I'm allergic to nice." He stuck his tongue out to prove his point. The girl rolled her eyes at that.

"We're in this together! Ya know that, right!.?"

"Duh! Of course I know that!" The hedgehog retorted, pointing his thumb at himself. "I got your and Pi's back. That should be good enough for ya. And you better have our backs too!"

"_Affirmative._" Pi agreed. Reggie crossed her own arms and looked away.

"Yeah, I got ya covered." She said with an air of reluctance. Lars grunted at that.

"Ya better. Now let's eat already! I'm starving!"

"Alright, alright!" Reggie groaned, walking over to Pi.

She reached over and pressed a button on his chest plate. It opened with a whoosh sound. Wisps of chilly air drifted out of the open compartment. The bat stuck a hand in and pulled out what appeared to be a sandwich wrapped in tinfoil. She tossed it over her head at Lars, who barely caught it.

"Tuna on rye." She stated as the boy tore into his lunch like a—well…animal. "Whaddya want to drink?"

"Mmph…orphage…" He barely got out.

Sighing in disgust, Reggie pulled out a can of orange soda and handed it to him. She then got her own sandwich (turkey on wheat) and drink (a bottle of water). She then closed Pi's compartment and sat down across from the hedgehog, who paused from his eating frenzy to face his metallic partner.

"So why _do_ you have a built in fridge anyway?"

The robot shrugged. "_The doctor must've had plans to use me as a traveling companion when he turned me into this._"

Reggie snickered. "You were fat enough as a human. I bet he _really_ meant to turn you into a fridge, but his machine messed up the process. Bust! Ha ha!.!.!"

Pi glared at her while Lars gave them an indifferent shrug.

"Whatever." He said after chomping into his sandwich. "At least we got some chow." He looked around his surroundings, listening to sound of chirping birds and the faint sounds of frogs croaking. "This whacked out forest is actually kinda peaceful, huh?"

Surprised that he actually said something _normal_ for a change, Reggie jumped in shock. When the others looked at her, she cleared her throat and looked around as well.

"I guess so… When we're not dealing with rain-making frogs and the other freaky animals that live here."

"_Like the abnormally large amphibious reptile we faced ten point eight minutes earlier?_" Pi asked. Reggie went pale at the thought.

"Oh God… That thing was a nightmare."

"Oh please!" Lars shouted with a laugh. "That thing was nothing, remember?"

°°Flashback°°

"_You idiot!"_ _Reggie yelled as the trio grinded down a large vine in the heart of the swamp. Lars muttered some obscenities in Spanish before facing his, for lack of an appropriate term, companion._

"_What is it now, ya dumb broad!.?" He roared. The bat gaped at him in disbelief before glaring._

"_Broad!.?.! What the hell!.?"_

"_You heard me!" The hedgehog retorted. "Whaddya want **now**!.?"_

"_Oh no ya don't!"_ _The bat returned. "You're not changing the subject **this** time Lars! When are ya gonna start treating me with respect!.?"_

"_When pigs fly outta my nose."_ _Lars gave a jeering sneer. "What're ya gonna do about it, dork!.?"_

"**_Approaching spiral…_**" _Pi droned. If his voice box was organic, that statement would've been made in a bored and irritated tone._

_Following the robot's advice, the duo danced as the vine veered around that tree trunk. Once the natural rail straightened out again, the bat and hedgehog faced off again._

"_What are you doing, not listening to my advice and shrugging me off just because I'm a girl!.?.! You're acting just like that kook Trent!"_

"_Hey! I don't have to do what you say! **I'm** the leader of this crew, remember!.? You're just here for the ride! So get used to it toots!"_

_Reggie's eyes flared at that one. "TOOTS!.?.! I'm gonna ring your little purple neck and kick your—"_

"**_Approaching jump… Black frogs nearby. Prepare to run to the nearby spring and grab onto the oddly shaped vine._**" _Pi advised._

_Thankfully, their fight ceased as they prepared to follow their partner's directions. The trio looked ahead and got ready to make a run for it. The vine soon ended, allowing them to skate a small distance to a jump pad. They were sent up into the air over some large flowery pads like the ones Team Rocket was on earlier. As Pi warned, there were a couple of black frogs standing on the nearby rocks. Once they saw the trio, they summoned their horrible rain. The team bolted over to the spring and hit it, sending them flying over the swamp towards the first swing. Lars, being closer, grabbed it first. Reggie grabbed his legs while Pi grabbed hers. The hedgehog grunted and felt his grip slipping once he felt the combined weight of the bat and robot._

"_Augh!.!.! Too…heavy!"_

"_Shaddap and deal with it!" Reggie spat._

"**_Must swing to move forward._**" _Pi said._

"_Ugh!" Lars groaned, moving his body backwards and forwards. The others followed the rhythm and soon, the whole team was swinging. _

_Grunting and muttering more curses in Spanish, the hedgehog waited until they were at the peak of their swing before letting go. They soared towards the next swing and grabbed onto it and each other. Using their momentum, they were able to go from swing to swing almost instantly. Lars felt like his arms were going to come out of his sockets whenever he reached a new swing. Of course, he'd get some relief when they went through the air, but as soon as they grabbed on to the next swing, the pain would back more real and excruciating than before. Inwardly wishing for the death of the bat and robot, he swung onward._

_Meanwhile, the giant alligator that inhabited this area of the swamp was swimming along dejectedly, massively hungry, and with a lump just as huge. Clearly it was still disappointed about missing that delicious three-for-one meal that was swinging on the vines above. It wasn't often that such big and meaty morsels came this far into its territory. And then they just outsmarted it and got away like they were better than it. It was the lord and master of the entire Everglades! It commanded great respect and reverence among the other animals! And if it wanted to eat three bags of meat that stupidly walked (or rather swung) into its home, it was gonna eat them!_

_Oh well… It didn't matter anymore anyway… They were gone and the gator was back to eating the tiny fish that swam within the stream. So much for having a delicious meal…_

"_Ah God, my arms are killing me!"_

"_Quit yer yapping and swing!"_

"**_Approximately fifty meters from goal ring and closing._**"

_What luck! Three more tasty morsels were swinging on the vines above the gator's head, taunting it with their delicious bodies and meaty limbs! There was no way it was going to let **this** opportunity slip by! It was lunchtime and those three were on the menu!_

_Licking its lethal chops crazily, the colossal beast swam off after the trio, bent on getting its snack. It left nothing to chance. If these three were the same as the last ones, it wasn't going to give them a chance to flee and eventually outsmart it. It was going to get the jump on them. Failure wasn't an option this time!_

"_This is torture! Somebody take over!" Lars shouted as they reached another swing._

"_But Lars, you're doing such a great job." Reggie teased, clearly loving this. "Why stop now?"_

"_Oh I don't know…" He started. "How about because **MY ARMS ARE BEING TORN APART!.!.!**"_

"**_We are twenty meters away from goal ring and closing._**" _Pi told them as they jumped towards the next vine._

"_See? We're getting close, so tough it out!" The bat ordered as she grabbed onto the leader's legs again. Waterfalls of tears slid from Lars' eyes as he continued on._

_A few moments passed before the hedgehog blinked and put on a thoughtful expression._

"_Hmmm…"_

"_What now?" Reggie asked as they reached the next swing._

"_This is almost **too** easy…"_

"_So? Easy's good!"_

"**_Odds of this being too easy are point zero, zero, zero, zero one to one._**" _The robot calculated._

"…" _The furries blinked. Pi rolled his optic receptors._

"**_This is too easy._**" _He clarified._

"_I rest my case." Lars said as they started towards the vine ahead._

"_I'm telling ya, there's nothing to—"_

_°SPLASH!.!.!°_

_The giant alligator lunged out of the water and opened its mammoth jaw!.!.!_

"_AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" The animals screamed in terror._

"_Oh crap!.!.!" The bat cried. "Lars, whatever you do, don't let go!.!.!"_

"_Too late!.!.!" The leader shouted, having released the vine seconds prior to hearing Reggie's command. Now their momentum was sending them right to their doom! The female sweatdropped and put on a look that was a mixture of murderous rage and irritation._

"_Why am I letting myself be pushed around by an idiot?"_

"**_Plot convenience._**" _Pi reminded her. The bat slapped her head._

"_I hate my life…" She turned to Lars and added, "Get us outta here! Now!.!.!"_

"_Got it!"_ _Lars shouted, pulling out the blue Chaos Emerald. Instinctively, Pi and Reggie held on to him. "Here goes! Chaos—"_

_°SNAP!.!.!°_

_The alligator's jaws slammed shut over them! It licked its scaly lips in satisfaction and rubbed its belly._

"_Control!.!.!" The muffled voice came from within the huge reptile. The gator gave the camera a wide-eyed look as a bluish light appeared in its nostrils. Tears built up in its eyes as it screwed them shut._

"_AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!.!.!" Its pain-filled voice echoed all around the swamp._

°°End Flashback°°

"_Why_ did you have to tell the story for!.?.!" Reggie shouted at Lars. "I didn't want to relive it! Ugh… I'm gonna smell like crocodile spit for weeks…"

"_That was an alligator, actually._" Pi corrected. The bat glared at him.

"Croc, gator! What's the difference!.?"

"_Searching database…_" The robot started. The two organic beings sweatdropped and finished off their lunch while waiting. "_Entry found. Alligators have a blackish coloration while Crocodiles are a lighter olive brown. Alligators normally prefer freshwater while crocodiles will only inhabit saltwater. Crocodiles have a long, pointed V-shaped snout while alligators have a shorter, rounder U-shaped snout. Of course, some species break this rule. Examples are—_"

"Alright! I get it, I get it! Sheesh!.!.!" Reggie stopped him. She then glared at the sky. "I wanna get outta this pit already!.!.!"

"What's the big rush?" Lars teased as he stood up.

"You're kidding." The bat gaped.

The hedgehog shrugged and smirked. "'Fraid not. Why should we leave when I got this awesome souvenir?"

And with that, he reached behind him and pulled out the **GIANT ALLIGATOR'S TEETH!.!.!**

"How'd you get _that_!.?.!"

Lars grinned. "Grabbed onto that thing's jaw before I used Chaos Control. Let's see how that gator likes gumming down food for the rest of his life! Tchahahahahaha!.!.!"

Reggie huffed in frustration and shook her head. "Can we get _please_ get moving already?"

The hedgehog shrugged. "Alright ya big baby." He put away the massive jaw, wondering inwardly how Twister would react to seeing him wear one of those huge teeth around his neck. He snickered as he imagined the look of extreme jealousy his brother would have. "Let's go—"

He stopped himself when he saw the three figures approaching the tree they were perched on. Twister was still screaming as he ran frightfully. Otto and Sam were yelling after him to stop. Lars grinned evilly while Reggie paled at the sight of her friends and brother. She gulped when the leader turned to her with a glower.

"Now we'll see if ya really _do_ have our backs." He said threateningly. Reggie returned the glower.

"Don't worry about that!"

"Hmph!" The hedgehog turned and crossed his arms. The bat began to sweat as she saw the other team stop at long last.

'_What are **they** doing out here!.?_' She thought. '_They're supposed to be back in Ocean Shores! I can't fight Sammy and the guys! How am I gonna get outta this!.?_'

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Rocket Dork! Pahahaha!.!.!" Lars addressed his rival.

"What the—!.?" Otto shouted, looking up at the other trio. "What are _you_ doing here!.?"

"Whaddya think, shrimp!.? We're tracking down that Stimpleton kook!"

"In your dreams! _We're_ gonna find him first!"

"Woah!" Twister gasped. "Ottoman, look at who's with him!" The red hedgehog and Sam looked behind Lars and saw none other than Reggie standing!

"_Reggie!.?.!_ With _Lars_!.?.!" They both yelled in disbelief. The bat glared at them.

"Ok, _what_ is everybody's deal!.? Everybody we've seen so far has been freaking out about that! What's so unbelievable about us being on the same team!.?.!"

Twister smirked. "Ya mean besides the fact that you're hinting at—"

He was cut off by a bolt of lightning striking him. Everyone else sweatdropped at the action. The charbroiled echidna stumbled around dizzily.

"I'd like to take back what I said…" He groaned, proceeding to get cleaned up.

"…Anyway, it's a long story and I don't feel like telling it!" Reggie clenched her fist. "All I wanna do is whomp Merv and get my treasure! And nobody's gonna stop me, especially not you three!"

"You traitor! After all these years, you turn on us!.?" Otto exclaimed.

"Say it isn't so, Reggie!" Sam pleaded. The bat gulped and put on a guilty look. She wanted to tell her best friend what she was really thinking, but she couldn't say anything lest she incurred her partners' wrath. Instead, she bowed her head, causing the other trio's eyes to widen.

"Oh it's so twerps!" The violet hedgehog confirmed, enjoying this little turn of events. "She's on _my_ team now! Tchahahahaha!.!.!" The scarlet hedgehog glared at both of them and growled.

"Fine! So she's on your team! Big deal! Me and my crew are gonna beat Merv first, even if we gotta beat all three of ya to do that!"

"WHAT!.?.!" Sam and Twister (who had gotten the soot off) shouted in shock. Their leader turned and fixed them with a cold glare. Paling at him, they both turned to each other, faced him again, and nodded frightfully. Satisfied, Otto turned back to the other team.

"That's better."

"_Ha…ha…ha…_" Pi…laughed? "_You will never defeat us, puny organics. Ha…ha…ha…_"

Lars and Reggie glowered at him.

"Watch it."

"Did that overgrown tin can have Pi's voice?" Twister asked strangely.

"I-I-I think so…" Sam nodded.

"Enough small talk! Time to see who's the stronger of the two of us!" Lars declared. He smirked evilly at Otto as he cracked his knuckles. "Rocket Dork, I've been waiting a _long_ time for this. I'm gonna enjoy this."

"Oh yeah!.?" The younger hedgehog challenged. "I'll show ya, Lars! I've gotten a lot stronger since I got these skates! You'll never win!"

"Yeah right! In case ya haven't noticed, _I_ got the same skates too! You're toast!"

"Grrrr…!" Otto shook his fists angrily. "That's it! You're history, dork!"

With that he lunged towards the tree with his fist held out. Giving a twisted sneer, Lars bent his legs and leapt off the tree towards his rival.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Three

"Ahhhh finally! Everything's as good as new!" I exclaimed cheerfully.

It was nighttime in the studio. Iggy and I were standing in the complex's center under the water tower, which bared a large smiley face on its middle. It was obviously the studio's logo. The entire place was completely and totally rebuilt. All of the buildings sparkled in the light of the full moon. The fresh concrete was so clean; you can eat off of it. It seemed that the aliens and Izzy did a good job repairing the studio.

"Yay!" Iggy clapped happily. "And since you decided to build Izzy a new training ground, he won't be able to wreck the studio!" He grinned as he pointed towards a large building to the left of us. It was round and covered in a glass dome that reached a good fifty to a hundred feet into the sky. "We can finally get back to work on the fic!"

"Yep!" I nodded. "As long as nothing goes wrong, of course. Now, c'mon Iggy. I'll go tuck you in." I started walking in the direction of the trailers.

"Ok, Daddy!" The young hedgehog shouted, skipping along besides me as he hummed a cheerful song to himself.

The two of us were almost away from the water tower when we both felt water droplets land on our heads. We stopped and gave each other curious looks.

"That's strange…" I commented, holding out my hand. "The weather guy didn't predict rain for today…"

"That's not rain, Daddy! Look!" Iggy said, pointing upwards towards the water tower. I followed his finger and found myself tilting my head in confusion.

Sitting on top of the tower was none other than Izzy. It baffled me how he was able to get up there in the first place because, as I've mentioned before, I confiscated his air skates and he had no access to the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic's world. For the moment though, I ignored that fact when something else came to my attention: He was _crying_! I never knew he was capable of feelings beyond hate, malice, and contempt for everything that moves (except for Keoni, of course)!

I scratched my head and faced Iggy as if he could give me an answer to this mystery. When the little hedgehog shrugged and gave me the same look, I returned my attention to the bigger furry and strained my ears to listen. Meanwhile, Iggy pulled out a tiny umbrella in order to protect himself from his brother's tears. It was reminiscent of the ones Wile E. Coyote would pull out just before getting rained on with boulders.

"Ohhhhh…" Izzy sobbed. "It's so unfair… I'm always stuck getting beaten or blasted by that idiotic fox! Of course, the boss and Iggy don't make things better in the very least. Then I get chased all over the place by that crazy, though kinda cute, cat, Keoni. And worst of all, I don't even have my best friend with me…"

The distraught hedgehog sniffled as he pulled out what appeared to be a picture from his vest. Fresh tears fell as he inspected the picture.

"My poor Sadie…" He then looked up at the moon. "What are you doing now? Where are you? Are you sleeping comfortably? Are you looking up at the moon too? I miss you so much…" He squeezed his eyes shut as he held the picture to his chest. His tears fell like a torrent of rain as he cried his loudest.

"GAH!.!.!" Iggy yelped as he jumped around to dodge all the "rain." When he finally ran back under the tower, he turned to me confusedly. "Who's Sadie, Daddy?"

I cringed as Izzy let out a huge wail before facing Iggy. "Sadie is the nickname of Izzy's Meowth from the Pokémon Dimension. She's Izzy's, and my, favorite pokémon. She's been with him since he started his pokémon journey a little bit before I recruited him as my partner. He loves her more than anything and anybody."

Now Iggy began to sniffle. "…Even me…?"

I sweatdropped, sighed, and nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

"WHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA!.!.!" The little furry let loose the waterworks as he ran away from the area at fast as his tiny legs could carry him. I put on an exasperated look as I slapped my head.

"One crisis at a time, please…?" I muttered before looking up at the still sobbing Izzy. I raised an eyebrow at him. "So he didn't hear us?" I shook my head and got into a thinking pose. "Hmmm… So he misses Sadie, huh? Heh, I must admit, I kinda miss the little bundle of joy too… It'd be cool to see her again, not to mention have Izzy be in a good mood for a change. But how could I bring her to this dimension? The Wheel of Plotlines was destroyed during that fight late update… It'll be impossible to bring her back here or go to any other dimension for that matter."

I stood there thinking for a few moments before my eyes widened in realization.

"Unless…" I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I dialed a number and held it to my ears. It rang a couple of times before someone answered. "Hey Sammy, it's me, Prince Izzy. I wanted to ask ya favor. You know that huge wheel I always use at the beginning of my fics? … Yeah! That's the one! Anyway, as you know, Izzy went bananas in the last update. Well, in all the chaos that went on, the Wheel of Plotlines was sort of…well…smashed. I was wondering if you can take a look at it." A pause, then I roll my eyes. "Of course you can test run it and do whatever you need to do on it."

I held the phone away as I heard cheering on the other end. I then shouted, "Just as long as you can get it up and running again! …" I put the phone to my ears to gather what the fox on the other end was asking. "'Why do I need it to be operational?' …Well, I need it so that I can bring back a couple of old friends…"

There was some muffled noise on the other end. I rubbed the back of my head in nervousness.

"I want to bring back Izzy's Meowth from the Pokémon Dimension. That way, he can perhaps be a little more happy instead of a major grouch like always. Besides…" I grinned into the phone. "If everything goes well and you play your cards right, I may bring back a certain little somebody for you too. I'm sure you miss _your_ little furball as much as Izzy misses his. Whaddya say?"

Another bit of muffled noise then I grin.

"Great! I'll get the aliens to salvage the remains of the Wheel of Plotlines in the morning so that you could get started. Oh, and please don't let Izzy find out about this. I want it to be a little surprise from me, Iggy, and you of course. … What will he say when he founds out you had a hand in this? Hmmm… Good question. I guess we'll find out once we present him his gift! Well, I better let you get some sleep. G'night!" I hung up the phone and turned to the camera.

"Well, it seems like the stage is set not only for Izzy's little surprise, but for the grand battle between Teams Rocket and Lars! What will happen? Who will win? Will Izzy wind up being a little nicer? Tune in next time!"

I waved at the camera as it zoomed away from me to show Izzy _still_ crying and bawling!


	23. Team Tussle Two, Part 2, 2

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Four

(A/N: It's long, folks!.!.!)

"Ugh! What a night…" A familiar voice grumbled in the back lot. All that can be seen of the irate person was a pair of dirty and ragged sneakers. "Maybe I should limit my brooding time to ten o'clock instead of midnight… I hardly got any rest, no thanks to the boss…" The shoes kicked dirt as their owner made his way towards the studio commissary.

"Force me to wear these tacky clothes and rebuild the studio, will they? I'll show them! The boss, Iggy and especially that two-tailed freak!" The voice seethed as the shoes dug into the concrete. The cafeteria was in sight as the tattered footwear stomped their way forward.

"Just wait until I find them! I'll destroy them! That dumb fox won't know what hit him! I'll crush him! Gwahahahaha!.!.! …Just as soon as I find him, of course… He's been gone for almost a week!"

The shoes finally stopped before the double doors that marked the entrance to the commissary. Pictured above the doorway was a hotdog decorated with ketchup, mustard, and relish. It was obviously installed to let people know what the building was for. One of the feet was lifted and pointed towards the door. The purple leg it belonged to bent backwards preparing its owner's entrance.

Meanwhile, inside the cafeteria…

"Ok, Izzy should be here to have his breakfast any minute now." I said. I was sitting at a table with Iggy next to me. Across from us were two shadows that just barely reached over the table. "Just follow my lead, alright? I want this to go over as smoothly as possible."

"Chirp, chirp!" The shadows replied as they nodded.

"Don't worry, daddy!" Iggy cheered. "They'll perform spectacularly!"

"Chiiiiiirp!.!.!" The shadows clapped encouragingly.

"I hope you're right." I sighed nervously as I fiddled with a briefcase containing many papers in an attempt to look busy.

°SLAM!.!.!°

"**BOSS!.!.!**"

"Boy, you'd think he'd at least have his usual bowl of Fruity Pebbles before he gets all grumpy." Iggy commented.

"Tell me about it…" I muttered in agreement.

"Chirp?" The shadows tilted their heads in confusion before all four of us turned towards the entrance.

Standing in the doorway, seething and panting angrily, was none other than Izzy (like ya didn't already guess that. XP). His eyes were flaring with more intensity than usual. His veins were pulsing in rage, causing them to be seen from a distance that shouldn't even _be_ possible to see them from! Steam billowed out from his ears and nose, giving him the look of a mutated teapot. In other words, he was very, VERY mad!

The shadows that were sitting with Iggy and me were chirping excitedly and jumping in their seats as the irate hedgehog stomped towards us. They didn't seem to care at all about his volatile temper or what he would do once he reached us. In fact, it looked as if they wanted to _play_ with the surly hedgehog! As Izzy approached, his shadow covered all of us. Iggy and I were shaking in our seats, but our guests were cheering and supposedly begging to be _picked_ _up_ by the evil one!

"Well?" The dark one hissed once he reached us.

"W-w-w-well wh-wh-what?" I stuttered in fright.

Izzy is truly a fearsome sight when he's this mad, especially in the morning. The corners of his eyes were crusted over from his slumber and there were dark circles under them, a sign that he's been having difficulty sleeping as of late. Despite those features, the veins in his bloodshot eyes were sinister and threatening to explode. Of course, we all knew the reason for his sleep (or lack thereof) related conditions… Hopefully, this plan will work.

"Where is that fox dork!.?.!" He roared. "He's been gone for over a week!" I shuddered for another moment before I blinked and gave him a confused look.

"Sammy?" My expression turned into an exasperated one. "What'd he do _this_ time?"

"You know exactly what he did!" He then pointed at his clothes which were still the prison garb I forced him to wear. "If it wasn't for him interfering with my plans, I'd still have my mallet and battle chips and I wouldn't be wearing these horrible clothes or these uncomfortable shoes!"

"But I bought them especially for you…" Iggy pouted, pressing the tips of his pointing fingers together.

"Yeah, that's another thing!" Izzy rounded on his little brother. "You have absolutely ZERO taste in clothing! When I _do_ get my mallet back, you're gonna—Huh?" He turned to his right when he heard some excited chirping. He put on a confused look before turning to me. "Hey boss, what are Tux and Edo doing here?"

The camera panned around to reveal our shadowed guests. They were two baby emperor penguins all the way from Antarctica. They were both about three months old. They barely stood up to Iggy's knees. Their black feathers had already grown in. The chick on the left was wearing a purple shirt that read, "You melt me!" He was also wearing a matching winter hat. The chick on the right was wearing a sky blue shirt that read, "Got ice?" He too was wearing a matching winter hat. Both penguins were sitting on top of phonebooks in order to see over the table. They had cheerful expressions on as they waved both flippers at Izzy.

The irate hedgehog was about to say something to me and Iggy when all of us froze and everything turned black and white. Footsteps were heard as someone walked inside the commissary. The camera, unaffected by the sudden time freeze, focused on a chipmunk. He was roughly the same size as Iggy. Like all chipmunks, he had brown fur. He was wearing a blue Hawaiian shirt decorated with white flowers and a pair of white sneakers that were covered in oil stains. Atop his head was a matching baseball cap that had the Los Angeles Dodgers' logo on it. He was holding a microphone in one of his gloved hands as he prepared to speak.

"Hiya! The name's Roderick Vandenack, but my friends call me Rod!" The furry introduced himself with an enthusiastic wave. "Today, we're gonna give our good pal Izzy the surprise of a lifetime!" He grinned in excitement. "This is gonna be soooo cool! I can't wait! See, Izzy was missing his best friend Sadie, a Meowth from the Pokémon Dimension. He was feeling lonely because he wasn't able to see her, so Prince Izzy decided to have the Wheel of Plotlines repaired so that we can bring her back and Izzy can be happy again…or at least less angry than usual…

"But before that, I gotta tell ya about those baby penguins that are sitting with the trio. The one on the left with the purple shirt and hat is Tux. The chick on the right with the blue shirt and hat is Edo. They're both really twins, but because Tux was born a few minutes before Edo, everyone says he's the older brother.

"As for how they found their way up here, it all started three months ago near the end of the summer. Iggy and Izzy were…erm…_playing_ when…"

°°Flashback°°

"_Owwww!.!.!" Iggy yelped as he skidded across the ground. He was covered in dirt and bruises. He coughed and moaned as he struggled to sit up._

"_Get up already!" Izzy ordered. He was standing in a fighting pose, holding his hammer steady with his right hand. His left was holding a battle chip. He was also wearing a green backpack._

_The siblings were standing near the water tower. They both had their hammers out. It looked as if they were having a fight over something. What could Izzy possibly be angry about **now**?_

"_C'mon Iggy, I don't have all day!" The dark one shouted, taking several practice swings. "If I'm ever gonna beat that idiotic fox, I gotta train! Now get up!"_

"_Alright, alright! Sheesh!" The shorter hedgehog shot back as he wobbled back to his feet. He then mumbled to himself, "I gotta do something to finish this! Bugs and Daffy comes on in five minutes!" He got into a thinking pose as he tried to figure out his next move. "Hmmm… I need a strong chip to beat him…"_

"_Ha! Even if I gave you a million years, you could never come up with a good plan!" The elder brother prepared to insert his chip as he ran head on. "Twister! Battle chip in! Download!"_

_As soon as the chip was put into the mallet, a swirl of wind surrounded it. Izzy then jumped and spun in midair, becoming a missile guided by an intense whirlwind. He resembled a power drill as he sailed dead on towards Iggy, who blinked with sudden inspiration._

"_I got it!" He shouted with glee as he grabbed a battle chip out of his pouch. He held it above his head and called out, "Alpha Arm Omega! Battle chip in! Download!"_

_As the elder brother drew closer, the younger boy put the chip into his mallet, causing it to glow a bright white. The blinding aura made Izzy stop in his tracks and cover his eyes. He groaned in pain as he fought to see what was happening. Soon, the light disappeared, allowing Izzy to look up. He blinked when he saw that nothing had happened. Iggy was holding his hammer with both hands._

"_Ha! What's the matter? Did your lousy attack fizzle out or something!.? Pahahahahaha!.!.!" The dark one taunted as he laughed teasingly. "I bet your crummy mallet has a virus or something! Maybe you should start using it to play with your baby toys instead of fighting! Gwahahahaha!.!.!"_

_As he continued his laughing fit, the front end of Iggy's hammer opened and a HUGE warhead emerged from it. Smoke billowed from within the toy-like mallet as the missile prepared to launch. The little hedgehog's weapon began to shake as it got ready to fire._

"_PULL!.!.!" He shouted. The missile blasted off seconds later and flew towards Izzy, who was **still** rolling with laughter!_

"_Bwahahahaha!.!.! There's nothing you can do! Hahahaha—WHAT THE!.?.!" He shouted when he saw the lethal projectile. "His pupils shrunk to nothing as he turned to the camera and held up a sign that read, "I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today…" before covering his head._

_°KA-BOOOOOOOM!.!.!°_

"_GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH AH, AH, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" He screamed as the missile blasted him clear into the stratosphere and beyond. As he became a star in the sky, Iggy, using his hand to block out the sun, looked up with worry._

"_Woah… Awesome…" He said in awe. "I hope I didn't hit him **too** hard… It looks like I knocked him all the way to Antarctica!" He then grinned. "Good thing I had him put on that backpack before we started training! I made sure to pack his wilderness survival kit, including that book on how to take care of wild animals that I got him for his birthday." He put his hand on his chin. "Hmmm… I wonder if I should've packed some food too…" He shrugged. "Oh well! I'm sure he'll come back down eventually! I wonder what's Daddy doing!"_

_With that, he whistled a happy tune to himself as he skipped merrily in search of me._

_Meanwhile…_

_A light snow began to fall as a star twinkled in the gray emotionless sky. It quickly disappeared as a faint screaming was heard. It grew louder as a violet body was seen flailing towards the ground._

"_AaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!**"_

_°CRASH!.!.!°_

"_Ugh…" Izzy groaned in pain. He had smashed face first into a humongous glacier. He slowly slid down the side of the ice before landing on the ground, which was also made from frozen water._

"_Ouch…" He forced out hoarsely as he fell backwards. "What a flight… Omph… When I get back to the studio, that brother of mine is gonna get it…"_

_The hedgehog stood up and looked ahead. All in front of him was ice and a dreary sky as far as the eye can see. He then looked all around himself. Finding no signs of civilization, he tilted his head and scratched behind his left ear as a question came to mind._

"_Where in the world did Iggy blast me to!.?.!" His voice echoed in all directions. The light flurry that began turned into a storm. Izzy shivered and hugged himself tight._

"_Brrrrrr! If I knew I was gonna take a trip to some winter wasteland, I woulda packed a freaking coat!.!.!" His voice again bounced off the frozen walls of the tundra. _

_Rubbing his body for warmth, he walked forward in search of shelter, people, and most importantly, a clue where he was! The frigid wind blew fiercely as the boy trudged through the snow and ice._

"_Yeowch!.!.!" Izzy yelped as he slipped and fell flat on his face._

_Especially ice._

_Soon, after being covered with enough fluff to be an official abominable snowhedgehog, the evil one came across a large twenty foot pole. It was red and white like a giant candy cane and had a wooden sign posted next to it. Izzy looked up and shook all the snow off. He's been out in this horrible weather so long, his quills turned a brilliant cobalt, making him almost look like Sonic in a poor attempt to look like Shadow. Shivering all the while, he read the sign._

"_W-w-welcome to th-th-the S-S-South P-P-Pole… P-P-Population: A f-f-f-f-few th-th-thousand p-p-penguins, b-b-blue wh-wh-whales, s-s-s-seals—" He blinked. "H-h-hey, w-w-wait a minute! S-S-South P-P-Pole?.?.? D-d-does this m-m-mean…"_

_His eyes widened in pure fear as it sunk in._

"_**IGGY BLEW ME ALL THE WAY TO ANTARCTICA!.!.!**" His enraged and frostbitten voice echoed for miles all around, causing a nearby glacier to crack and sink into the ocean._

"_That idiot!.!.!" He roared, causing his body to turn an angry red now. "When I get back to the studio, he will know true pain! He will know true fear! He will know-know-know—AHHHHHHHHH CHOO!.!.!" He sniffled and rubbed his nose as he returned to his normal color. "I-I-I better look for someplace to stay… Hopefully some whalers will come. Then I can get on their ship and get home. Just gotta survive til then… ACHOO!"_

_With that, Izzy continued on his way through the frosty continent of ice. He would've used his air skates to find some place to hunker down, but he was way too cold to zoom ahead. Besides, the snow was beginning to grow brutal. He'd just wind up crashing into something. Sighing and sinking as far into his vest as possible, he kept walking trying to find a cave or something to huddle in. _

_After a good two hours of braving the horrid Antarctic weather without finding any bit of shelter, Izzy, snarling and well past the point of losing his cool, stopped and looked at the sky._

"_What can't there be a stupid cave around here!.?.!" He bellowed. "Is it so much to ask for one stupid, lousy hole in the wall to get some freakin' warmth!.?.! I'm going nuts!.!.! When am I—"_

_Suddenly, a low growl was heard, forcing the hedgehog to cease his rant. He faced the camera with a desperate look._

"_Oh no…" He moaned, gripping his belly. "My stomach… I haven't eaten since breakfast… I-I'm hungry…" His eyes turned a fiery red. "**AND THERE'S NOTHING AROUND HERE FOR ME TO EAT!.!.!** **I'M GONNA BEAT IGGY TO A BLOODY PULP!.!.! I'LL—**"_

_He was about to continue complaining about his hunger when he heard what sounds like a crowd of birds chirping and squawking. Looking around, Izzy noticed a nearby snow drift. He slowly tiptoed over and took a look._

_Over the hill was an entire colony of emperor penguins. There had to be thousands if not millions of them! There were penguins of all ages. From young gray chicks to black and white adults, it was like looking at one of those old black and white silent movies! The birds were all huddled on the beach. Many of them were either getting in the water to hunt for food or getting out to feed their chicks or to give their mates a break from protecting their eggs. Others were sliding down sheets of ice on their bellies. And others still were looking for potential mates. Chicks were running around in groups in what seemed to be a kind of game._

_Izzy's mouth watered as his stomach set up several probabilities for him._

"_Hmmm… Fried penguin, penguin flambé, penguin noodle soup, penguin ala king! Auuugggghhhh…" He gargled ala Homer Simpson. He then shook his head as he stared more closely at the adults. "Woah… Those feathers must be soooo warm… I can make a coat out of them and be nice and toasty! Now the only question is do I feast first or try on the newest fashion? Decisions, decisions…" A light bulb flashed above his head._

"_Duh! I'm gonna eat first!" He held his chin. "I wonder what's the best way to cook a penguin…" He trailed off as something came to mind. His eyes widened just before he slapped his head. _

"_Idiot! There's no wood here! How am I gonna start a fire with no wood!.?.!" He ran his hands through his iced over quills, trying to think of a solution. His eyes twinkled as a dastardly plan came to mind._

"_I got it! If I snatch an egg, I can hatch it, then raise the bird inside until I can get outta here. By the time I get somewhere with a stove, it'll be fat enough to satisfy me til Thanksgiving! Muahahahaha!.!.!" He rubbed his frozen hands evilly. "Now to nab my future meal."_

_With his evil plan set, the hedgehog got on all fours and crawled over the snow drift towards the colony. He moved his fingers and feet as stealthily as he can through the ice. He slipped a few times when he couldn't get a grip on the slick surface. Miraculously, the penguins didn't even notice him. Wiping his sweaty head, he continued his wolf routine, sneaking ever closer to the beaked and feathered sheep. _

_He was a few feet away from the closest penguin parent when it turned towards him! Izzy's eyes widened and he stood completely still. Sweat fell down his face—and immediately froze—as he watched the bird, inwardly praying that it doesn't alert the others. Both animals stared into each other's eyes waiting for the other to make a move. After a tense few moments, the staring contest ended at the bird went back to tending its egg._

"_Whew…" The hedgehog let out the breath he was holding. "That was too close. There's no way I'm gonna try to get it from **that** one."_

_He moved away from the penguin and moved along trying to find another one to steal from. Throughout his hunger-inspired caper, he got caught at least ten times. He managed to avoid the whole colony going after him, but he did get kicked and pecked by a couple of parents and trampled by some chicks. By the time he found an adult to take an egg from, he was covered in bruises and had a black eye._

"_Ugh… One shouldn't have to go through this just to eat…" He groaned as he lay on the ice with a dazed look in his eyes. _

_He blinked when he heard an excited squawk. He looked up and saw an adult getting up and waddling to its mate. When the birds reached each other, they rubbed against each other lovingly. Izzy rolled his eyes and got back to the task at hand. His eyes went huge when he saw the package the nesting bird left behind. **Two** eggs were lying right there on the ice for the evil one to take! Izzy gave a strange look as he contemplated this._

"_A penguin leaving behind its eggs? Talk about irresponsible, not to mention kinda stupid…" He shrugged as he crept over to the white ovals of goodness. "Oh well… It just makes things easier."_

_When he was close enough to the eggs, he reached out towards it slowly. Again, sweat poured down his face, stinging him as it froze on his cheeks. His fingers drew closer and closer to the first egg. He began to tremble with excitement as his digits brushed against the shell._

"_Almost there…" He grunted as he wrapped his fingers around it. He quickly pulled it towards him and brought it against his chest. "Yes! I finally got one!" He cheered, holding up his prize triumphantly._

_Suddenly, everything grew silent and the sky blackened. Noticing the suddenly change of background, Izzy gulped._

"_S-s-s-say… Why is so quiet all of a sudden…?"_

"_SQWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!.!.!"_

_The hedgehog's quills went white as he looked all around him. His pupils went positively microscopic in fright when he noticed his now (much, much more) dire situation. Surrounding him on all sides was **EVERY** adult penguin in the colony! And they were BEYOND angry at the thief! They were liable to attack at any moment. They regurgitated whole fish and held them in their flippers like they were clubs. Most of them were even **sharpening** their beaks on large pieces of ice! In short, a certain hedgehog was in BIG trouble. The color returned to Izzy as he shook and stuttered to find some way out of this._

"_W-w-well you see…" He started with a nervous grin. "Th-th-this is a nice egg and I-I-I was just gonna… **RUN AWAY!.!.!**"_

_He frantically grabbed the other egg and bolted for freedom. The penguins blinked strangely, allowing the hungry hedgehog to break through the birds' right flank. When he was at least fifty feet away, the male penguins in the colony snapped out of it and pursued him, squawking and waving their partially digested fish in anger. The females stayed behind to keep their respective eggs warm._

"_Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!.!.!" Izzy screamed as he climbed over the snow drift with one hand. Once he reached the top, he was panting. "Oh…man…I gotta find…some place to…hide!" A bitter wind blew as the angry cries of the birds grew louder. "Ugh! My hands are too cold to hold these things! I need something to hold them, not to mention keep 'em warm!"_

_He blinked when he remembered the bag he was wearing._

"_How could I forget the bag that idiot brother of mine gave me!.?" He took the backpack off and opened it. He then grumbled, "Oh yeah… Running for my life…" He placed the eggs inside and closed the flap. Izzy gasped when he saw some black coming in over the horizon._

"_Aw man! I have to get away from those dumb birds!" He smirked. "And I know the best way how."_

_With that, he reached down to his air skates and flipped the switches on them. The shoes hummed as Izzy turned to the approaching birds and stuck his tongue out at them._

"_Nyah, nyah! Say good-bye to your eggs, boys! I'm gonna have me a delicious meal! Gwahahahaha!.!.!" He sneered as he turned and started skating. The enraged penguins waddled after him at amazing speeds before jumping towards the ice._

"_Ha! There's no way they'll catch me now!" He gloated as he gained a good distance over the colony. "I'd like to see them try to—AHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" He screamed in terror as he looked back._

_The penguins were sliding on their bellies at breakneck speeds! They were like feathered missiles or torpedoes! Izzy panicked and moved his arms and legs faster._

"_Those penguins are crazy! Who knew they could chase you so fast!.?.!"_

_He continued skating as fast as his frostbitten limbs could move him. Despite his best efforts to increase his speed, the torpedo-like birds caught up with minimum effort. A frozen sweatdrop fell down Izzy's face as he looked to the left, right, and behind him. He was surrounded again! It was a high speed squeeze!_

"_Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!" The hedgehog slapped his head._

_The next few minutes were spent weaving and dodging the penguins' attacks. They took every opportunity to ram into Izzy or smack him upside the head with their rather stinky weapons. The frantic boy wound up either jumping over the irate birds or rolling to avoid being pounced on. He made sure to prevent them from hitting his backpack lest the precious eggs inside get smashed. In a few instances, the penguins with fish in their flippers rode by on the ones sliding in an attempt to bring him down! Luckily, he was able to duck or slow down just enough for the birds to pass and hit each other._

"_Whew!" He wiped his forehead as the chase continued. "When are they gonna give it up!.? Well, at least I'm warm from all this exercise! Hahahahahahaha—"_

_°WHAM!.!.!°_

_Without warning, a penguin rammed head first into his back! The sudden impact caused Izzy to wipe out. He rolled along the ice and snow as he tried to get back on his feet! It was no use though. He was moving way too fast to stop himself, let alone regain his footing! As the rolling continued, the flap on his backpack, having not been closed securely, flew open, allowing the eggs to rocket out of the bag and into the air! The penguins squawked in horror as Izzy finally stopped rolling. His eyes spun dizzily as he wobbled to his feet._

"_Don't worry… I'm ok…"_

_He shook his head as he heard a faint whistling sound. He looked around for the source, but couldn't find anything. That is, until he looked up._

"_**THE EGGS!.!.!**" He gasped, running forward with his arms open. "I got 'em! I got 'em!"_

_He was tackled by some penguins that chirped urgently as they waddled as fast as their webbed feet can carry them. They held their flippers open as the unborn chicks plummeted towards their doom! But then they were tackled by Izzy, who was holding his mallet._

"_Oh no ya don't!" He shouted to the struggling birds as he sat on top of them. "I stole those eggs fair and square! They're mine!"_

_He quickly jumped off them and made a run for the eggs. He was only about twenty feet away from the drop zone when…_

_°CRASH!.!.!°_

"_Ugh! Get offa me!.!.!" He roared to the gaggle of penguins that just landed on him in a devastating dog pile. They only laughed teasingly at him as he struggled to get his arms free. He just barely got them out from under the bundle of feathers when he gasped. He noticed that the eggs were only mere feet from the ground—**AND NO ONE WAS THERE TO CATCH THEM!.!.!**_

"_Oh no!" He reached towards the pouch containing his battlechips and grabbed whatever he could. He took a split second to look at his choice and grinned at his luck. "YES! Area Steal! Battle chip in! Download!"_

_As soon as he jammed the chip into his hammer, he disappeared from under the penguins and reappeared in the air towards the eggs. Moving as fast as his hedgehog body would allow, he flipped towards the eggs and reached his hands out. He was just barely able to grab them before landing on his feet and skating off._

"_That was WAY TOO CLOSE!.!.!" He screamed to the gray sky as he zoomed over past the sign marking the South Pole and towards the glacier he crashed into when he arrived here. He panted heavily and leaned against the ice wall as he tried to think of a plan._

"_Gotta…find…shelter…FAST!.!.!" He then looked down at the eggs he was holding. They were feeling almost frigid to the touch! "Oh great! These chicks'll die if I don't do something!"_

_That was when he looked at the glacier and got an idea. He stepped back a few feet and took off his vest. He put it down on top of the snow and placed the eggs on it. He then closed the vest as he grabbed his mallet again._

"_There. That should keep them warm until we get inside." He then pulled out another chip from the pouch at his waist. "Mega Cannon! Battle chip in! Download!"_

_The hammer became a red handheld cannon as soon as the chip was inserted. Realizing that the vest wouldn't keep those penguin eggs warm for long, he quickly aimed at the glacier and fired. A thick beam of orange light shot out of it and smashed right into the wall. Steam appeared as the ice was melted by the extreme heat. Once the cloud cleared, a the entrance to a cavern could be seen. Sighing with relief, Izzy put away his weapon, which transformed back into a mallet, and picked up the eggs._

"_I just don't get what the boss and Iggy see in penguins…" He commented with a sigh as he entered the newly made cave. He went as far as he could go before hitting the end of the cave; another ice wall. "They're nothing but major pains in the butt if ya ask me." He unwrapped his vest and looked at the prizes of his trek._

"_Well, at least I'll have a meal eventually. I just gotta make sure I eat before I get back to the studio—if I make it back. Iggy and the boss would never let me eat these things… Idiots." He grumbled. He set the vest on the ground, being careful not to break the eggs, and looked at the makeshift nest in confusion._

"…_So, how am I supposed to incubate them?" He asked himself. He held his chin as he went over his options. "If don't exactly have an electric blanket or something with me… And I can't make fire, so frying them until they hatch is outta the question… The only other way I can think of is…"_

_His eyes widened in horror before drooping in an irritated, defeated expression._

"_I…have to sit on them until they hatch…" He moaned. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!.!.! What would everybody say if they found out I had to sit on a couple of eggs like a bird!.?.!"_

_Stomping the cave floor in frustration, he slowly turned and planted his purple bottom right on top of the eggs. He shivered as the cold shells brushed against his skin._

"_Th-th-this is s-s-s-s-so embarrassing…" He shuddered as he wrapped his arms around himself. "I'd better see if there's anything useful in the backpack that little twerp made me put on before he blasted me."_

_He reached over and grabbed the bag, which he unceremoniously dropped when he reached the end of the cave. He stuck his hand inside and started pulling out the contents._

"_Let's see… A first-aid kit… A tennis ball? What would I need a tennis ball for?.?.? A blanket! Finally!" He wrapped the cloth, which had rubber duckies on it, around his body. "A kid-sized fishing rod…" He sneered at the brightly colored object. "**A kid-sized fishing rod?.?.?** What do I look like, some little kid? …At least I got a way to catch food… And the last thing…" He blinked. _

"_A **book**?" He read over the title. "The Manly Man's Guide to Outdoor Survival and How to Care for Wild Animals? Aw crap! This is the book Iggy got me for my birthday last year! A lot of use **this'll** give me!" He was about to toss it over his head when he read over the title again. _

"'_Wild Animals?' Maybe this'll tell me how to deal with these eggs. Let's see…" He opened the book and flipped through the pages until he found the chapter on egg raising. "Ok now… Chickens…snakes…" He raised his eyebrows. "Echidnas?.?.? Ah! Here it is! Emperor Penguins!" He scanned the page for info. _

"_According to this, emperor penguin eggs take—" He put on a horrified look. "—**SIXTY-THREE DAYS TO HATCH!.?.!** That's over TWO months!.!.!" He looked down at the eggs and sighed. "Ugh! Nothing I could do now… Maybe the parents got a head start before I stole 'em…" He grinned. "Yeah! I bet it'll only take a day or two to hatch 'em!_

"_Now, I guess I better get some rest and conserve my energy… I wonder if hedgehogs hibernate…" He returned to the book and found his answer. "Whew… We do, but I'll have to get up eventually for food. Blah… Whatever…" _

_He yawned and curled into a ball while keeping the blanket wrapped securely around himself. This gave him the look of a huge kid's ball decorated with little ducks. He was asleep in no time flat, starting the weirdest incubation period ever known to penguin kind._

°°End Flashback…for now°°

"Wow! What an awesome adventure, huh?" Rod spoke in the still-frozen commissary. "We'll be back with the conclusion of the story after this part of the chapter! So who's gonna win this fight, Otto's or Lars' team? Read to find out! See ya in a bit!"

The little chipmunk waved happily as the camera faded to white.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Twelve

Team Tussle Two

Part Two-Two

**TEAM BATTLE #4**

**TEAM LARS VS. TEAM ROCKET**

When the two leaders were close enough to each other, Otto arched his back and spun into a ball, increasing his speed. Not even threatened by the incoming attack, Lars also rolled into a ball and used his torque to move faster. They rammed into each other in midair, creating sparks. Everyone but Pi shielded their eyes from the near blinding light. They seemed to be evenly matched. Both were struggling to push the other back, but neither one was making any progress.

Soon though, Lars, being the bigger and stronger of the two, began to gain the upper hand. He pushed Otto down towards the ground. Noticing that it was futile, the red hedgehog pushed his way out of the struggle, forcing his opponent to crash into the ground! Dust and dirt rose from the point of impact as Otto landed. He turned towards the cloud to see Lars glaring at him hatefully. The one in the sunglasses only smirked at him.

"Heh, what'd I tell you?" He scoffed. The older furry gritted his teeth and growled.

Giving his rival no time to relish in the success of his attack, he bolted forward and bashed him with his elbow. Shocked, Otto was thrown backwards. He flipped, allowing himself to land on his feet. He skidded backwards a few feet before stopping. Taking advantage of his rival's surprise, Lars lunged forward to ram him again. Thinking fast, Otto sidestepped to avoid the attack, throwing the violet hedgehog off guard. He quickly let loose a flurry of jabs, which Lars blocked by putting up his arms. The punches were lightning fast, but Lars wasn't about to let this little punk show him up!

The scarlet hedgehog made to give his adversary one final punch when Lars ducked and gave him a hard uppercut. Twister, Sam, and Reggie gasped as the smaller leader was thrown up into the air! Moving fast, the taller one bent his legs and jumped as high as he could. Thanks to his air skates, he passed Otto's limp form with ease. Smirking, he flipped and kicked his foe's stomach, knocking all the air out of him! Otto crashed into the ground the same way Lars did at the beginning of the fight. And the purple hedgehog wasn't done yet! He rolled into a ball and fell towards him in a hard homing attack!

"Ottoman!" Twister panicked. He snatched Sam's satchel and pulled out a fake ring. Wasting no time, he tossed it at his older brother. It connected just before Lars could hit Otto!

"Yeow!.!.!" He shouted as the electricity shocked him.

"Ugh…" Otto groaned as he opened his eyes.

Noticing that Lars was right above him, he rolled out of the way and stood up. He waited for the electricity to fade before throwing him back with a homing attack of his own. The older furry was sent skidding along the ground. Once he stopped, he stood up and glared at the opposing team.

"So that's the way it's gonna be, huh!.?" He turned to his teammates. "Pi, take care of the shrimp! And deal with Squid, ya kook!" He added to Reggie. "Rocket Dork's mine!"

"_Understood!_" Pi acknowledged, activating his rockets. "_Initiating attack mode!_" He jetted towards Twister with a claw held out.

"Pi!.? Woah!" The echidna yelped, dodging the robot's swipe. He jumped away from Pi and skated to the left into the forest, the bot in high pursuit.

"Twist!" Otto called after them.

"Tchahahahaha!.!.!"

The red hedgehog turned and gulped at seeing Lars pounce on him! When his rival was close enough, he jumped backwards, avoiding Lars' initial punch. The purple one quickly followed with a rapid succession of punches, which Otto barely blocked as he continued to be pushed backwards. Like his own attack a few moments ago, Lars' fists moved like bullets, occasionally striking the shorter hedgehog. Because he was stronger than him, the punches hurt Otto even though he was holding his arms in front of him. He gritted his teeth as he took the pain and continued defending himself.

After a few moments of this high speed attack and defense, Otto jumped away from Lars, bounded off a nearby tree and skated into the forest in the opposite direction Pi and Twister went. Determined to destroy the opposing leader, Lars took off after him, leaving Sam and Reggie all alone.

Both the bat and fox stood there staring at the other, unsure of what action to take. Should they forget their two plus years of friendship and battle each other as per their leaders' orders? But how? They couldn't possibly just forget all the fun, excitement, and danger they went through together. It just wasn't right! You can't pit two friends against each other! Not in a million years!

"Erm…" Sam looked down and shuffled his feet around. "What are we supposed to do?"

Reggie shrugged and rubbed the back of her head confusedly. "I dunno…"

The fox looked up at her and tried to say something when he gasped and glared at her.

"Hold on! What are you doing with my inventions!.?" He shouted, noticing that she was wearing his lightning attachments on the toes of her shoes, his strength intensifier on her right wrist, and a satchel of fake rings on her right arm. The bat gulped and stuttered.

"W-w-well, ya see…"

"Y-y-you went into my garage and stole my inventions…" Sam started, tears welling up in his eyes. "I worked so hard on them…"

Reggie sighed guiltily at him. "Sorry, Sammy… If it's any consolation, they work like a charm. And I like them."

"Really!.?" The fox's eyes brightened as a small blush formed on his face. He blinked, shook his head, and glowered at her again. "Wait a minute! You took them from my lab before I could give 'em to you properly!"

"Wha?.?.?" The bat asked, blushing as well. Sam's own blush deepened as he turned away.

"Uhhh… Well…" He again shook it off. "I want 'em back!" The girl smirked at the command.

"Sorry handsome, but you're not getting 'em back without a fight!" She winked at him before taking off into the canopy above. Steam came out of Sam's ears as he stomped the ground.

"If that's the way you want it, here I come!" He shouted as he wound up his tails and flew after her.

'_Heh, well **that** was easy._' The bat thought as she flew away from the boy. '_Now I just have to figure out how to end this without hurting Sammy too much. I gotta look convincing in case Lars winds up watching us._'

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Meanwhile, Twister was skating around the trees as he tried to get away from Pi as fast as he could. The robot was gaining on him as he slashed tree after tree. The shorter one had a tough time dodging the huge lumber. The echidna managed to avoid him for the most part, but eventually, a tree landed right beside him, causing him to hop out of the way. Taking the opportunity, Pi lunged and punched him square across the jaw!

"Augh!.!.!" The furry got out as he bounced off the ground. When he landed, he opened one eye and pushed himself up.

"_Annihilate!_" Pi droned, jumping towards him with his claw straightened out.

Eyes widening, Twister pushed off the ground and bounded backwards, allowing the robot to get his right claw stuck in the ground. Pi struggled to get it out, but it was stuck deep! Grinning, the echidna ran towards him with his fist reared back. The bot looked up and increased his efforts.

"_Danger, danger!_" He said right before Twister pounded his face in.

"Ha! Now we're even, ya bucket of bolts!" He shouted before pummeling him with even more jabs.

His spiked fists were a bunch of blurs as he laid the hurt on the automaton. Because of his thick armor, Pi didn't seem to be affected by the barrage. Something that he was actually thankful for ever since being turned into a robot. But even though he was feeling next to no damage from the young animal, he couldn't let him get away with this!

Twister jumped back and dashed forward to get in an uppercut when Pi activated his rockets. He was able to get his claw out and shot up into the air with a flip, throwing the echidna off guard!

"Woah!" He yelped, struggling to keep from tripping.

"_You are powerless against me!_"

"Oh yeah!.?" Twister shouted as he regained his footing. He shook a fist at Pi. "I dare ya to come down here and say that!"

"_As you wish!_" The bot replied, blasting towards him with his fist held out. He wasn't about to leave himself open for attack again!

As the metallic one neared him, Twister stood his ground. He held up both fists, bracing for impact. Just when Pi was about to strike, the echidna ducked and went in for a swing. However, the robot doubled back, avoiding the attack. The furry's eyes widened when he noticed Pi activating his rockets again. He instinctively started skating backwards to evade whatever his opponent was planning. Pi blazed after him, leaving a trail of flames in his wake. They both took to fisticuffs again as they sped through the forest.

It was hard for Twister to avoid getting hit because he had to constantly look behind him to avoid crashing into a tree or tripping over a root. If Pi had a mouth, he would be smirking as he socked the animal every time he had to look. He struck the echidna several times in the chest and face as they continued. Twister nearly tripped many times but he didn't waver once! He too got his licks in. He actually started to dent the robot's plating as he fought back. This went on for a few moments before Pi's eyes glowed a dangerous red.

"_Enough!_" He roared, screeching to a halt as they entered a clearing. Twister also stopped and took in a deep breath.

"Huff… Had…enough…yet!.?" He panted, wiping his sweaty head.

"_Negative. Switching to secondary tactic._"

Twister gave him a curious look. "Huh?"

Pi didn't say anything as his claws retreated into his arms and were replaced by machine gun barrels! The boy's eyes went as wide as saucers as he sweatdropped. He gulped as the barrels started spinning!

"Oh crap!.!.!" He screamed, scrambling to get away.

He just started moving when Pi fired, unloading several bullets into the tree that Twister was standing in front of a few seconds prior. The shots caused an outline of the echidna to be made in the side of it. Twister stopped to look at the design and whistled.

"Woah! Not bad dude!" He complimented, giving Pi a thumbs-up. "How'd you do that!.?"

"_That is one of the oldest cartoon tricks in the book._" Came the response. A few seconds passed before the bot added, "_Error!_" and shot at Twister!

"Yipe!" He shouted, jumping out of the way and making his escape. Still firing, Pi activated his thrusters and gave chase.

Elsewhere…

Grunting and curses echoed all over as two blurs, one red, the other purple, sped through the forest. They crashed into each other every few seconds, never losing momentum as they dodged the trees. Every time they bumped into each other, they both increased their pace. It was almost as if they were testing their speed, pushing themselves to be faster than their opponent. The two were yelling insults to each other every time they rammed into each other.

"Twerp!" Lars shouted, elbowing the red blur.

"Kook!" Otto retorted, countering the purple blur's elbow with his own.

"Dork!" Another attack from the purple blur.

"Loser!" The red blur struck back.

The attacks and insults were thrown back and forth for a couple of seconds before Lars lunged, trying to tackle Otto. Otto was ready for that cheap tactic though. He did a baseball slide to not only stop himself, but also to allow the older hedgehog to sail clear over his head! Lars' eyes widened when he realized he was heading right for a tree!

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!.!.!"

°CRASH!°

The red hedgehog got up off the ground, dusted himself off, and turned towards his rival. He took a good long look at him, blinked a few times, snickered, bit his lips to hold back what was threatening to come out, failed, and promptly laughed his head off.

Lars' head was stuck in the trunk of the tree! His arms and legs were moving wildly in an attempt to free himself. He soon growled in annoyance and put his hands and feet against the tree. He pushed as hard as he could, but no matter what he did, he couldn't get his head out! And that little twerp's laughing wasn't helping one bit!

"Heh, I've heard of birds poking holes into trees for food, but _hedgehogs_!.? Hahahahahahaha!.!.! BUST!.!.!" Otto teased, falling to the ground. Lars' face turned a fiery red as steam came out of his helmet. He gritted his teeth as he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his Chaos Emeralds.

"THAT DOES IT!.!.!" He roared. "CHAOS CONTROL!.!.!"

In a bright flash of light, Lars disappeared from the tree trunk. Otto was blissfully unaware of the incoming attack as he kept up his guffaws. He was soon cut short as Lars rematerialized and kicked him _hard_ in the stomach, sending him spiraling towards another tree at an incredible velocity! His eyes were screwed shut and his teeth were clenched as he flew towards the hardwood. Aware of the danger, Otto quickly rolled into a ball to avoid the majority of the damage. Mere seconds later, he crashed into not just the tree he was heading for, but every other tree that was behind it! He flew like a cannonball through a good two miles of forest before finally colliding into the side of a cliff face. His eyes spinning just as fast as he was going, he unrolled and slumped down the side of the ridge until he landed on his head.

"Ohhhhh…" He moaned dizzily. "Thank God for safety helmets…"

It was then that he heard rapid footsteps that were getting louder with each passing second. Otto blinked and saw Lars running on the ceiling at nearly a hundred miles per hour! Each time he blinked, the purple hedgehog was bigger. He started out as a small speck before becoming as big as a garden gnome until he was his normal size, and _still_ running! He was just a few feet away!.!.!

Eyes bulging to the point of breaking his sunglasses and a blaring alarm going off in his mind, Otto pushed up off the ground and righted himself in midair. The world was right side up again, but Lars was dangerously close! Glowering and ready to continue the battle, he again rolled into a ball to get ready for his homing attack. However, the violet hedgehog wasn't about to let himself be attacked so easily. While Otto was preoccupied with setting up his attack, he used his Chaos Emerald to disappear again.

"Huh?.?.?" The red one gasped, stopping his move. He blinked and held his chin. "What happened to Lars? He was standing right there a minute ago. Where'd—"

He was cut off as Lars pounded him right into the ground again! Otto crashed landed, kicking up a lot of dirt and dust.

"Ha! Gotcha!" The older furry gloated with a smirk. He then sneered. "Time to finish you off!" He arched his back and got into the formation for his own homing attack. He propelled himself towards his rival when…

"Rocket Twister!.!.!" Otto's voice echoed as the dust cloud was parted by a great, red tornado!

Lars tried to get away from it, but his momentum was way too strong! The purple ball was sucked right into the tornado and spun around. He screamed and shouted for a good few seconds before Otto finally tossed him high into the air. Lars was beyond dizzy as he was sent far above the forest. Using the G-Forces of the funnel he created, Otto launched himself out of his attack and right towards his foe. It only took a few seconds for him to catch up to the other hedgehog. When he was close enough to Lars, he brought both fists together and raised them above his head. He allowed himself to fly a little longer before letting him have it!

°WHAM!.!.!°

"ARGH!.!.!" Lars grunted as he was sent crashing down to earth. Otto waited until his enemy fell through the trees before pumping his fist.

"Heh, who's got who now!.?"

As if to answer his question, Lars shot out of the trees as a ball and rammed right into him! Otto gave a shout of pain as he fell through the green blanket below. The violet hedgehog had struck him in the stomach again, knocking all the air out of him. Lars gave an evil sneer as he fell towards the forest. He covered his face as he fell through the leaves. Once he passed them, he found Otto standing on a nearby branch. He was leaning against the tree as he fought to catch his breath. Lars let his teeth show as he landed on his own branch. He crossed his arms and looked at the younger kid with an air of superiority. Otto noticed the look and glared at him as he stood straight up.

"Go ahead and keep smiling, Lars!" He shouted. "It's gonna be that much sweeter when I wipe that grin off your face!"

"Pahahahahaha!.!.! Give it up, Rocket Dork!" Lars retorted, laughing in his usual teasing tone. "There's no way you're gonna beat me! I've been fighting ever since I was in diapers!"

"What, this morning?" Otto remarked, smirking at the deep glower the older furry sent him.

"You're gonna pay for that one, ya little twerp!"

"Bring it on, dork!"

They both jumped towards the other with their fists reared back. When they got close enough to each other, they brought them forward, connecting with each other's faces. They were both pushed backwards as they fell towards the ground. On the way down, they both fought with jabs, kicks, and head butts while pushing off the trees to slow their descent.

When they neared the bottom, they landed on the same branch, prepared to push their opponent off the edge. But to their immense surprise, the branch broke under their combined weight! Being caught off guard, both of them fell the remaining distance to the ground. They hit the hard forest floor with a resounding thud. In almost a flash, they darted up and traded blows, causing serious damage with their hardest punches and kicks. They kept this up for about a minute before facing ahead and racing through the woods.

"Like I said," Lars started, quickening his pace. "You're never gonna win!"

"Oh yeah!.?" Otto challenged, matching his enemy's speed. "We'll just see about that!"

With that, the two hedgehogs continued their duel.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

High above the ground, the two flying members of the teams were playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse. They were going back and forth, trying to catch their opponent off guard as much as possible. They hid among the trees and moved around as much as possible to get the jump on each other. For the most part, they were unable to find each other. But whenever they _did_ find their foe, they let him or her have it with a barrage of fake rings.

Of course, due to their speed, they were able to dodge the shocking projectiles with ease. Still, it unnerved them a little to know not only that they were caught so easily, but that they were best friends, fighting each other because, again, they were practically forced into it by Lars and Otto. As they abandoned their search and destroy strategy and went to fisticuffs in the air, guilt struck both of the fighters. But no matter what, they had to finish this fight lest they let their leaders do the job for them!

'_I'm sorry, Reg…_' Sam inwardly sighed as he tried to land a kick. '_But I'm not gonna let Otto or Twist hurt you!_' Reggie ascended out of the way. The fox kicked off a nearby tree and made to punch her. '_They'd be a whole lot tougher than me!_'

"Woah!" Reggie yelped barely dodging the jab. She flew higher up and allowed gravity to affect her while rapidly kicking. '_Sorry, Sammy, but trust me, you don't want Lars or Pi going after you!_'

Eyes widening at the incoming attack, Sam stopped spinning his tails and allowed himself to fall in an attempt to avoid the bat. Noticing this, Reggie ceased her kick and straightened out her body, causing her to catch up. When she got close enough to the fox, she began her barrage again. Sam had an incredibly tough time darting around the kicks while freefalling to the ground below.

Reggie's foot soon grazed his side, causing him to wince and grit his teeth in pain. Putting on a determined look, he whipped his tails in front of his body to block the girl's kicks. Reggie blinked in surprise when she noticed that she wasn't doing anymore damage to her friend. Glowering, she increased her efforts by speeding up her kicks. Sam countered by whipping his tails harder. They were at a stalemate as they neared the forest floor!

'_I gotta hurry and finish this before we both crash!_' The kitsune thought urgently.

'_C'mon Sammy!_' The bat shouted inwardly. '_Pull up before we go splat!_'

Reggie went for another kick when Sam saw his opening. He used both of his tails to knock her leg away. The sudden move surprised the older one, giving Sam plenty of time to make his move. He grabbed Reggie's other leg and swung her around as hard as he can! Normally, he'd barely be able to lift a huge stack of books, let alone his best friend. But the strength intensifier he was wearing really made it as easy as lifting a piece of paper.

The bat shouted dizzily as Sam continued to spin her around like a toy airplane. Regretting every second of this, the younger animal finally let go after two full minutes of swinging. Reggie flew through the air a couple of feet before crashing into a tree. She was embedded in it as she kept her eyes shut and took in sharp gasps of air. Cringing at the sight of the girl in pain, Sam wound up his tails and let them go, stopping his descent mere yards from the ground.

'_I hope she's alright! I didn't mean to throw her **that** hard!_' He thought as he floated up to Reggie.

When he was level with her, he gave her an apologetic look as he extended his hand. The bat regained her breath as she opened her eyes and stared into her best friend's. The boy's eyes seemed to be begging her for forgiveness while her own had guilt all over them.

"Are you ok, Reg?" The fox asked.

"Yeah…" Reggie answered, taking his hand. Sam flew backwards, struggling as he pulled her out of the tree. When she was freed, they were both panting, trying to assess the other. "What are you guys doing out here anyway?" She finally asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Sam replied. He then gave her a strange look. "And what _are_ you doing with Lars anyway?"

"Like I said before, it's a long story, Sammy."

The fox crossed his arms. "Well, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

The bat again sighed and slumped forward. "Alright, alright. Here's what happened…"

Meanwhile…

"Yeow!.!.!" Twister screamed, holding his butt as he ran at top speed. Pi was still chasing him through the forest, guns a blazing. He looked back and shouted, "Don't you ever run out of bullets!.?.!"

"_Negative._" The robot answered. "_I have many backup magazines. Running out of ammunition is a near impossibility._"

The echidna sweatdropped. "…Nice…" He moaned as he let go of his backside and skated, effectively increasing his speed. He jumped to the right to dodge another stream of bullets as he shredded down the dirt path.

"_Get back here, pathetic organic!_"

'_There's gotta be **something** I can do to get him off my back!_' Twister thought frantically as he dodged more of the robot's shots. '_If only I had something I could shoot back at him. He'd have to back off._' He then blinked. '…_And then…! I got it! I just gotta avoid him til I can find what I need!_'

His expression hardening, he skated as fast as he can, looking all around for anything he could use. He wasn't having much luck as the robot increased his efforts. Pi never let his target out of his sight as he fired both of his guns at the echidna. Twister gritted his teeth as he abandoned skating and jumped from tree to tree. Lucky for him, it was much harder for Pi to hit him as he stayed at least twenty feet ahead of his opponent.

"_Error! Stand still!_" The robot ordered.

The bullets were getting closer and closer with each tree that Twister jumped off. They stuck themselves into the bark mere seconds after the echidna kicked off. Pretty soon, the gunfire was hitting the trees just as soon as Twister reached them.

'_Man, I can't keep this up much longer!_' He thought as he barely avoided the next barrage of shots. He looked at the trees around himself and grinned. '_Let's see him try and stop **this**!_'

With that, he jumped towards the next tree and brought back his fist. When he was just a couple of feet away, he let his fist fly and punched the tree! The blow was strong enough to take out a huge chuck of the trunk, exactly as Twister planned. He landed on the ground and yelled, "Timber!" before starting off again. Pi skidded to a stop and tilted his head in confusion. A loud creaking sound was heard seconds later. Pi turned to his right as a large shadow loomed over him.

"_Danger!_" He shouted as the tree crashed down upon him. Hearing the sound, Twister skidded to a stop and turned towards it.

"Yes! I did it!" He cheered, pumping a fist.

"_Not quite._" The electronic voice said, causing the echidna to gasp.

"No way!"

He stood gaping as a metal claw stabbed the fallen tree and split it in two with little effort! His eyes stretched out of their sockets when he saw Pi stomp out between the halves of wood. The robot didn't have a single scratch on him! If he had the ability to display emotions, he would be extremely ticked off at poor Twister. He stepped forward another inch or two before raising his right arm. He retracted the claw, which was covered in sap from the tree, and brought out his machine gun again.

"Aw man! Don't you ever stay down!.?" Twister complained, skating away again. Pi didn't say a word as he activated his rockets and gave chase once more.

'_Well, at least the tree gave me some time to relax!_' The echidna thought as he darted out of the way of a deadly stream. '_So if I just punch out more, I'll be able to have plenty of time to find what I need to deal with those bullets!_'

With his plan set, Twister used his powerful fists to knock any and all trees that were along the path. One by one, the grand towers of wood fell and blockaded the path behind the frantic furry. The logs didn't provide much of a safeguard against his enemy, but they _did_ give him a decent amount of time to get away. He fell many trees to put as much distance as possible between him and the lethal automaton. Soon though, the path widened out and trees stopped appearing. Strangely, this didn't bother Twister because he had reached his intended goal!

A huge cliffside?

The wall of stone went up at least fifty or sixty feet. There didn't seem to be any footholds to climb up it. There were plenty of rocks around, but zero cover from Pi. Aside from the two paths to the left and right of him, there was no escape. The echidna took a deep breath and put up his fists. A determined glower crossed his features as Pi cut his way through the last defense.

"Ok, here goes nothing."

Canned evil laughter was heard as Pi walked into the clearing. His heavy metal feet caused the ground to tremor slightly as he approached Twister. He stopped a few feet away and aimed both gun barrels at him.

"_Prepare to meet your end, organic._" He droned as he cocked his guns.

"No way, ya bucket of bolts!" Twister retorted. He turned and made a run for the closest boulder.

Pi fired a lethal spray at him. Pulling off some sweet moves only the air skates could grant him, Twister narrowly avoided the bullets before reaching his target. He jumped and flipped in the air before pulling back a fist. With a shrill battle cry, he drove his fist into the large rock. The impact cracked the boulder and caused it to explode into hundreds of tiny pebbles. Every last piece of the rock was sent into the air.

While the rocks were still in the air, Twister focused his energy into his fists. He glared hotly at Pi and clenched his teeth as he willed his hands to get as hot as possible. Soon, the jewel on his flame ring glowed an angry red as fire engulfed both of his hands. Pi's eyes became bright as he assessed the situation.

"_Scanning subject…_" He announced to no one in particular. "_Subject's body temperature is increasing at an exponential rate. Course of action: Attack!_"

With that, the robot aimed his guns and prepared to fire. Fortunately, Twister was ready to start his own attack. The flames on his hands were constantly jumping and crackling. It was amazing the echidna's fists didn't burn! Pi's gun barrels began to spin as Twister jumped up into the air towards the pebbles he knocked skywards earlier (Don't ask _me_ why they never fell!). Once he was level with them, he raised his right fist and prepared to strike. During those few seconds of air time, the two combatants stared at one another, willing the other to try his move first.

"Fire!.!.!" They both roared at one another.

Pi unloaded a great amount of bullets from his arms while Twister punched the rocks as fast as possible. Due to the speed, ferocity, and heat of his fists, the pebbles moved almost as fast as the robot's gunfire. The boy's hands were two flashes of light as he punched like his life depended on it. During the crossfire, most of the projectiles met each other in midair and fell harmlessly to the ground below. Several of them, however, sped past each other and towards the combatants. Some of the bullets grazed Twister's side, causing him to wince in pain. He ignored the white hot burning and continued punching. Meanwhile, the flaming rocks that cleared the bullets struck Pi, denting his armor badly. He crossed his arms in front of his face to protect himself. He didn't notice, but several of the pebbles lodged themselves into his gun barrels.

When the barrage finally ended, Twister fell towards the ground. When he was close, he flipped and landed safely on his feet. He then kneeled and held his sides. He screwed his eyes shut as he felt the burns. When the pain subsided, he opened his eyes and looked down. He gasped when he noticed several drops of crimson on the ground. He was bleeding; it seemed that those bullets didn't just fly by him…

He didn't have much more time to assess his injury for he heard heavy stomping that got steadily louder. He looked up and glowered as Pi slowly approached him. The robot wasn't looking as good as the echidna was. Sparks were shooting out of cracks in his body where presumably Twister's rocks hit. Pi soon towered over him and pointed his guns at him. The echidna gulped and trembled as he stared into certain death.

"_This ends now._" The bot cocked his weapons. Twister screwed his eyes shut as the barrels spun and…

°KABOOM!.!.!°

"_Argh!_" Pi shouted, jumping away from Twister. "_Ninety-five percent damage to both secondary hand units! Require emergency maintenance!_"

"Huh?" The furry cracked open an eye and grinned.

Both of his opponent's wrists were on fire! Smoke was billowing out of them. Pi was too busy trying to put out the fires to notice the other combatant stand. Twister put up both fists and drew fire into them as his expression grew mischievous.

'_Now's my chance!_'

With that, he charged forward with his right fist drawn back. As he closed the distance between him and the metal one, he let out another battle cry. It wasn't until he was a few feet away that Pi noticed him. It was far too late though. Before the robot could do anything, Twister's fist collided with his face, sending him flying into the forest and knocking down some trees in the process!

The echidna skidded to a stop and allowed the fire to fade from his hands as he stood, watching for his foe. He kept both fists up in case Pi decided to try and catch him off guard. Luckily for him, that didn't happen. Instead, the robot stomped back into the clearing. The fires were put out and the totaled guns had retreated into his wrists. There was also one massive ding in his head from the boy's attack! Twister got into a defensive stance.

"_You'll pay for that._" Pi simply stated.

"Yeah right!" The animal scoffed. "Let's finish this!"

"_Switching to third battle technique._"

The bot pointed both arms at him and launched flames from his wrists!

"Yikes!.!.!" Twister hit the ground, barely avoiding the surprise attack. The streams of fire hit the rock wall and melted it instantly! Eyes wide, the echidna stood and surveyed the area of impact.

"Oh man… I better not get hit by that unless I wanna be turned into echidna burgers!" He wiped his sweaty head when a delicious fragrance wafted past his nose.

"Hmmm… Smells great!" He complimented, drool forming on his lips. "Smells like charbroiled echidna!" He licked his lips and rubbed his now growling stomach. He then blinked and brought his hands to both cheeks.

"_Echidna!.?.!_" He snapped his head towards his backside and felt his eyes go wide.

**His tail was on FIRE!.!.!**

"YEOWCH!.!.!" He screamed as he ran like a maniac towards the nearest source of water. Sweatdropping, Pi took off after him.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So that's the whole story, huh?" Sam asked. He and Reggie were still hovering high above the forest.

"Yeah." The bat nodded, her arms crossed. "Pi was turned into a robot and Lars found out he was a test tube baby. I decided to go along with them to get some treasure from Merv. Now we're on some wild goose chase that everybody else is involved in!"

The fox gave her a confused look before asking who else she encountered on her journey. After she told him about the battle against Trent's crew, he told her about the fight against Clio and her team.

"Some crazy road trip huh?" Reggie said when Sam finished.

"You could say that again." The boy answered with an exasperated sigh. "I just wanna get back to Ocean Shores and take a long, hot bath."

"You and me both, Sammy."

Silence, then the fox gave her a nervous look. "So erm…do we still have to…ya know?"

Reggie bit her lips guiltily. She wished he didn't remember the battle they were supposed to be fighting. "You know what'll happen if we don't…"

Sam looked down. "I don't want to hurt you…"

"Same here…" The older kid looked away. A twinkle suddenly appeared in her left eye as she smirked. '_Maybe I don't **have** to hurt you after all…_'

The kitsune took a deep breath and put up his fists. "Alright!" He gulped. "Here I come!" He propelled himself towards Reggie, ready to continue the battle! Reggie, meanwhile, batted her eyelashes at him.

'_And here **I** come._' She snickered as she flapped her wings and charged straight for Sam.

The two weary battlers soared towards the other, intent on finishing this fight once and for all! Flames were burning in their eyes as they closed the distance. Sam's flames were full of strength and determination! He didn't want Twister and Otto to do the job for him. They'd be absolutely ruthless! The strange thing about all this was Reggie's eyes. They weren't glowing with the heated fury a warrior would have for their foe… In fact, if Sam didn't know any better, he could've sworn the flames in her eyes were of…

"WHAT THE!.?.!" He gasped when he realized what was happening.

He tried to stop himself in order to get away, but it was hopeless! He was going way too fast to stop! When Sam was within range, Reggie grabbed the fist that was held out and pulled him towards her. Sam's eyes went wide as the bat embraced him and pushed her lips to his!.!.! The poor fox tried to push away, but the older girl's grip was too strong. Besides, he was quickly submitting to the unexpected maneuver. Both of his tails went stiff as steam erupted from within his shark helmet. His eyes became two big hearts as he returned the hug. He pressed his lips against hers as his eyes went shut; a clear sign that he gave in to his hormones.

Just as quickly it began, it was over. Sam's entire body went numb in Reggie's arms as they broke the kiss. The fox's eyes fluttered open in bliss as he tried to recollect himself. Failing miserably and finding himself losing consciousness, he took one last breath and uttered these three words:

"What a kisser!"

He then fainted in the girl's arms with a strong blush that turned his muzzle completely red. Reggie suppressed the urge to giggle at the boy's naivety as she lowered herself and the fox down to the ground. When she touched down, she started walking, carrying him over her shoulders. She shuddered and felt herself go as red as an apple when she felt him snoring into her ear.

"Who knew it would've been so easy to fool Lars and kiss the boy of my dreams all in one day?" She asked herself with a chuckle. "Now I just hope Sammy will stay knocked out."

With that, she moved on, trying to find a suitable place to drop off Sam.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Five

"Woah…" Rod gaped at that last scene. "Who knew Sammy had it in him?" He cleared his throat as he turned to the camera. "Well, it looks like he's out of the fight! Will Otto and Twister pull a win from Lars' grip!.? Find out next time! But for now, let's get back to Izzy's adventure! We last left him in an ice cave in the middle of Antarctica caring for Tux and Edo's eggs. Let's see what happened next!"

The grayish background of the time frozen cafeteria wiggled and swirled to launch the flashback already in progress.

°°Flashback°°

_As it turned out, the original parents had only been incubating the eggs for a month. The near-frozen Izzy spent most of the remaining thirty to thirty-one days hibernating and staying on the eggs. During the few times he was awake, he attempted to leave the cave to fish. Unfortunately, there was always a raging blizzard outside the icy shelter preventing him from leaving. Besides, he couldn't even risk leaving the eggs behind lest they freeze to death. So those long days were spent trying to stave off his building insanity by bouncing the tennis ball off the cave walls and humming to the tune of his growling stomach. He was even starting to get each and every Pokémon theme song! By the time the month was up, he had lost about sixty to seventy percent of his body weight._

_One day into the eggs' incubation period, Izzy awoke and stared ahead. He had lost so much weight that he resembled a skeleton with skin attached. His bloodshot lifeless eyes went far into his skull, his brittle quills lost their luster making him look a sickly grayish lavender, his hands resembled tiny, sharp claws, his belly and internal organs sunk into his body, and he had a rather scary-looking twitch. But he remained on the eggs nonetheless!_

"_J-j-j-just a l-l-l-little l-l-l-longer…" He shivered. "S-s-s-soon they'll h-h-h-hatch and I c-c-c-can e-e-eat…" He blinked and grabbed his head in frustration._

"_OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!.!.! THAT'S IT!.!.!" He roared, getting to his feet. He turned to the eggs and pulled out a knife and fork. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!.!.! I'M GONNA EAT THEM NOW!.!.!"_

_His mouth watered as he approached his defenseless prey with crazed eyes. He inched closer and closer to the eggs, preparing to chow down. He was centimeters away from them when he stopped and dropped the utensils._

"_What am I doing!.?.!" He shouted, grabbing his head again. He stumbled away from the nest and banged his head against the ice wall. "I can't do it! I can't do it!.!.!" He cried as he broke a gaping hole in the wall. "Look at them! They're innocent! I can't eat them!.!.!" He sobbed guiltily._

_The poor hungry, thirsty, frigid, near insane hedgehog continued his fit for a good ten to fifteen minutes before finally returning to the nest. Thankfully, the eggs weren't too cold by the time he planted himself on them again. He sniffled and tried to compose himself as he sat thinking._

"_How long has it been anyway? There wasn't any chalk in the bag so I couldn't mark the days… For all I know, it could be a day or a year that I've been laying on these things!" He flailed his arms and legs around. "How much longer do I have to—HUH?.?.?" He froze as he felt a vibration underneath him. "I-i-it can't b-b-be…!"_

_He jumped off the nest and looked in awe. Both of the eggs were shaking! They were about to hatch! He grinned in anticipation as he watched the miracle of nature. The egg on the right was the first to hatch. It cracked on all sides before a tiny, black beak poked out of the top. It retreated inside and repeatedly poked until the roof was broken. Chirping was heard from the inside. _

_Izzy shook his head and recovered from his shock. He walked over to the nest and picked up the broken egg. He looked inside and saw the small chick. It was covered in a thin film of liquid. Like the chicks he saw back at the colony, this penguin had a light plumage of gray feathers. The area around its head was black and white though. Its eyes were closed shut as it made squawks of hunger. For once in the hedgehog's life, he put on a warm smile as he peeled away the newborn's former prison._

"_Heh, for a baby, you're actually kinda cute." He commented when he freed the chick. It chirped slowly as he held it in the palm of his hand. "Here. Let's get ya cleaned up."_

_He wrapped the blanket around it and gently dried it off. Once he was done, the baby slowly opened its eyes. It blinked a few times before looking straight into Izzy's face. It tilted its head for a couple of seconds before chirping excitedly and rubbing itself against the boy's face. Izzy sweatdropped at the action and tried to pull the chick away with no avail._

"_O-o-ok… That's nice and all, but could ya get back a bit? There's such a thing as personal space, ya know?"_

_He was about to try to pry the penguin away again when another cracking sound was heard. Izzy and the nuzzling chick turned towards the nest to see the second egg breaking. Unlike the first egg, this one's hatching was faster and more efficient. The chick inside burst out of it almost instantly, sending egg shards flying. The baby was sent flying a few inches into the air, did a flip, and then landed right back on the nest. It chirped happily for about a second before the biggest piece of the eggshell, the top one, landed on its head, creating a nice hat. Izzy and the firstborn blinked strangely at the other bird before it chirped cheerfully and clapped its tiny flippers. The first chick went back to nuzzling against the sweatdropping hedgehog._

"…_Well, that's one way to make an entrance…" He said with a sigh as he bent over. He plucked the older chick off of him and gave it an irritated look. The baby tried its hardest to get back to his face, but Izzy's grip was too strong. "Think you can give me a sec to clean up your little brother or sister?"_

_The chick tilted its head in confusion before looking down at the nest where its sibling was trying to look around, but couldn't due to the eggshell covering its eyes. It turned back to Izzy and chirped happily as it nodded._

"_Thanks." The hedgehog said, putting it down in the nest. He then picked up the younger chick, removed the oversized "hat," and cleaned it with the blanket. Like its sibling, it blinked a few times and stared at Izzy for a few moments before unceremoniously attaching itself to his face and chirping joyfully. The hedgehog just stood still with his fists clenched as the bird rubbed lovingly against him. Taking advantage of his immobility, the older sibling waddled clumsily over and hugged Izzy's right leg. The spiny one faced the camera with the chick still nuzzling against him._

"_This is as close to a penguin as I wanna get…" His voice was muffled. The younger penguin laughed in response. Apparently, Izzy must've tickled the baby when he spoke._

_He pulled both babies off of him and held them up to face level in each of his hands. He studied them as they tried to free themselves to rub against him some more. He tapped his foot as he tried to figure out a reason for their behavior._

"_Ok…I get that you two wanna hug me til the cows come home." Both penguins chirped happily as they nodded enthusiastically. Izzy rolled his eyes. "I'll let you do it in a sec, but do you mind if I look at something real fast first?"_

_The siblings tilted their heads before facing each other. They squawked until they were able to come to an agreement before turning back to the hedgehog and nodding. Izzy sighed._

"_Good. Now to see if that dumb book will tell me anything."_

_With that, he put the chicks in the nest and wrapped the blanket around them so that they won't succumb to the horrid cold. He then grabbed the guide to the outdoors Iggy gave him and opened it. He thumbed through until he reached the section he was at a month ago, the one explaining how long it was going to take to hatch the eggs. He read along while the babies watched as if it was story time._

"_Let's see here… 'When penguins first hatch, their minds are imprinted with the image of the first thing they see, causing them to think that said thing is their…'" He paled at the next word before facing the chicks with a gaping expression. "'**MOTHER!.?.!**' THEY THINK I'M THEIR **MOTHER!.?.!**" He groaned painfully as he slammed the book shut._

"_How lovely!" He roared sarcastically. "There's no way I can eat these chicks **now**! They'll wind up loving me so much that I can't have my meal without having to go through the extreme guilt and worrying about being a bigger jerk than usual!" He took in a sharp, irritated breath. "Fate hates me so much…"_

"_Cheep cheep?" Both penguins looked at their "mom" confusedly._

"_This stupid, lousy…" Izzy grumbled as he made the wind up and tossed the book at the nearby wall (far from the babies, of course). In an instance of classic comedy, it bounced off the wall and slammed square into his face! The chicks were beside themselves with laughter as they clapped and applauded their "mother's" show. Izzy stumbled around dizzily as he recovered from the sudden hit._

"_Ohhhhhh…!.!.!" He growled, shaking his fists. He turned to the book and prepared to stomp on it when the sound of a trio of rumbling stomachs echoed all around the cave. All three of them held their stomachs and looked at one another._

"_Heh, heh… Guess I forgot about food after you guys hatched…" The "mother" said with a nervous chuckle. The babies looked at him with tears in their eyes. Their little beaks quivered, causing the hedgehog's eyes to widen. "Oh no…"_

"_**CHEEP!.!.! CHEEP, CHEEP, CHEEP!.!.!**" Their little voices boomed. The cave shook and trembled due to their high pitched squawks. Parts of the ceiling even started to cave in! Izzy covered his ears to drown out the massive noise as he dodged the chilly debris._

"_ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!.!.! I'LL GET YOU SOME FOOD!.!.!" He shouted, hopping from side to side. Ice chunks landed on his left and right as he continued the strange dance routine. "JUST STOP CRYING!.!.! I'LL FEED YA!.!.! I'LL FEED YA!.!.! I'LL FEED—"_

_°WHAM!.!.!°_

_A particularly large ice rock landed on him. He was knocked out cold shortly after._

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

"_Ok, now just stay here, ok?" Izzy told the chicks an hour later. He was wearing an ice pack atop his head. He was holding the fishing rod Iggy packed inside the backpack. "I should be back soon, assuming I don't freeze out there…"_

"_Chirp!" Both babies clapped their soft flippers eagerly. Izzy sighed._

"_Yah… And stay under that blanket. Until your black feathers grow in, you're in danger of freezing too." He adjusted the blanket so that only their heads could be seen. They nuzzled against their "mom's" face as he did so. The hedgehog chuckled._

"_H-hey, cut it out!" He said, as strange as it sounds, good naturedly. He withdrew and pat them on the head. "You're so fuzzy!"_

"_Cheep!" They started to cry again._

"_Ok, ok! I'm going! Be right back!" Izzy said as he ran out of the cave to forage for food. When he reached the exit, he put a hand on his chin. _

"_Hmmm… They'll need some protection from predators while I'm gone…" He blinked and pulled out his pouch full of battle chips. He then rummaged through it. "Now I'm sure I got something here… Yes!" He shouted in triumph as he pulled out what he was looking for. He then pulled out his mallet._

"_And now… Swordy! Virus chip in! Download!"_

_After putting in the chip, the hedgehog bashed the ground in front of him. Four puffs of smoke appeared as soon as he did that. When the clouds vanished, four of the viruses were standing before him. They all resembled knights except they didn't have any legs. Instead, their bodies were floating above the ground. In each of their right arms was a sword that was alight with strange flames. The one of the far left was gray. Its sword was glowing with purplish fire. The one next to it was a dark blue; the flame surrounding its sword was a lighter shade of blue. The third knight virus was gold; its flaming sword was a bright red. The final one on the far right was the most sinister of them all. Its armor was black as night. Its sword was a darker purple than the one belonging to the first knight._

_Izzy slapped his head upon seeing the gold knight._

"_You mean to tell me I had the ability to make fire at any time?.?.?" He grumbled before facing the viruses, who saluted him with their swords. "Alright you four, I want you to guard this cave! If anything but me tries to get in, destroy them immediately! Show no mercy!" Again, the viruses saluted to show their compliance with the order. "Good. I'll be back in a couple of hours."_

_With that, he skated away, leaving the viruses to stand guard. He soon reached a shore that was deserted of life, which he was pretty thankful for. After all, he didn't want to end up running into those penguins again. Bad enough he was the official parent of two chicks, he didn't need to top off his day with another chase scene. He sighed as he sat on the ice._

"_Oh well…" He growled. "At least now I can finally get some food in my stomach."_

_With that, he lowered the rod's lure into the water._

_Not even five seconds later, a huge fish shot out of the water and ate him whole! The fish dived back into the ocean. Things were calm for a few seconds before the water bubbled. Izzy soon emerged from the surface, struggling to keep his head above it! The fish kept trying to pull him back down until he pulled out his mallet._

"_Down! Down I say!" He roared, bashing it on the head. "You stupid barracuda! Back!" He jumped back on the ice and prepared for the final strike. The fish lunged out of the water, ready to bring Izzy back in. "When I say down, I mean DOWN!.!.!"_

_He walloped the fish hard, knocking it out. It made no movement as it landed on the ice beside the wet and shivering hedgehog. Izzy's vest was torn in several places. He panted for a few moments before dragging the oversized fish back to the cave. He kept his mallet ready in case it wanted a second round._

"_Lousy thing messed up my favorite vest too…" He grumbled as he neared his home. "This better be big enough for those chicks…"_

_He soon made it back to the cave. He strolled past the sword-wielding viruses and walked through the hollowed hall until he reached the babies, who were softly crying out of hunger. They were huddling next to each other while holding their fuzzy tummies. As soon as they saw him, they jump out of the protection of the blanket and hugged him. Izzy cracked a small smile as he pet them._

"_Ok you guys, your very first meal is served." He said, gesturing to his catch. _

_The chicks' eyes widened as they ran over to the massive fish. They immediately made to eat it when a discovery was made. Their tiny beaks were way too small to eat it whole! Try as they might, they couldn't even penetrate the scaly skin. Izzy watched them continue to try to tear off a piece of it before he decided to intervene. He pulled them away from the feast._

"_Hang on you two." He started, holding them back as they struggled to get back to the delicious meal. "I gotta cut it up for ya first!" He sat them on his lap and held his chin. "Only question is how small should I make it? Better yet, how do you even feed a baby penguin?"_

_He blinked and looked down at the confused chicks. They simply shrugged at him. Rolling his eyes, Izzy reached over and grabbed his book. He turned it to the section on penguins and read._

"_Let's see… 'Parent penguins feed their young by…'" He turned stone white as he read over the next words. "'REGURGITATING THE FISH THEY'VE HUNTED AND DIGESTED!.?.!'"_

_With an expression of horror, he looked down at the babies, who were pointing at their open beaks. Izzy turned green as he stood and grabbed his mallet and a battle chip._

"_I feel like I need to toss my cookies already…" He groaned._

_After using his fire sword chip to cook the fish he caught ("Again, I had the ability to make fire all along!.?.!" His voice echoed throughout the cave.), he ate a quarter of it and prepared himself for what had to come next. Nervously, he stuck a finger down his throat. Instantly, the fish came right back up, filling his cheeks! He hurriedly grabbed the older chick and…erm…**fed** him. As fast as it started, the little bird's belly was full of vital nutrients. Izzy panted while the chick cooed and chirped contently. The hedgehog used his vest to wipe the vomit that was dribbling from its beak before putting it down and going back to feasting on the fish. After finishing half of it, he picked up the younger chick, who was crying from hunger, and fed it the same way as its sibling. The poor "mother" was beyond ill at this point. He cleaned up the happy chick and finished what was left of the fish. He moaned as he laid down on top of his vest and wrapped himself in the blanket._

"_Ugh…" He gurgled, the color returning to his face. "I never wanna have to do that again…" He blinked and moaned painfully when he realized that he **had** to do it at least twice every day if he expected the chicks to survive until they can hunt on their own. "Oy… I just wanna sleep now…"_

_He was about to close his eyes when he noticed the chicks looking at him. He simply smiled and raised the blanket._

"_Hmph, you two better get under here. Even **with** my fire sword providing warmth, it's still too cold. You'll freeze."_

_The chicks chirped and waddled over to the hedgehog. When they reached him, they nuzzled against him as he covered all of them with the blanket. He yawned as he ran his hand over their heads. In a rather cute display, they imitated him, opening their beaks in a tiny yawn. Izzy chuckled before looking towards the cave exit. A light snow started to fall outside._

"_Ok, you two, time for bed. It'll be awhile before I could go out again…" He said, giving another yawn as he laid his head on his right arm. He wrapped his left arm around the chicks and pulled them in close for maximum warmth. The babies closed their eyes and hugged their "mother's" arm with their tiny flippers. Izzy suppressed the urge to grin as he too succumbed to his fatigue. He was soon fast asleep._

_And so, Izzy spent the next month raising the chicks. Everyday he would go out to his favorite fishing spot and catch many fish to feed them. Of course, he'd always be sick to his stomach afterwards… He eventually discovered that both chicks were boys. Soon, the babies' black feathers grew in, allowing them to go out into the frozen wasteland without getting chilly. The three of played in the snow and ice whenever it was clear. They'd belly slide across the tundra for hours. …Though Izzy would sometimes crash into a wall of ice. _

_He also attempted to teach the chicks how to swim. But that didn't work so well considering that the poor hedgehog would turn into a giant popsicle as soon as he jumped in. Luckily, the babies instinctively knew what to do and dived in. They grabbed the large ice block and swam to shore with it. Then they dragged him back to the cave where he defrosted while lying by the fire sword still stuck in the cave floor. He was more or less out of commission for the rest of that day._

_Eventually, he started to become homesick. As much as he hated to admit it, he missed being back in Ocean Shores. He contemplated this one day while watching the chicks kick the tennis ball back and forth like they were playing soccer._

"_Hum…" He sighed. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I wanna go back home. I miss the delicious food I used to eat, the peace and quiet I would sometimes get, and most importantly, the WARMTH!.!.!"_

"_Cheep?" The chicks faced their "mom" in confusion. Izzy continued without even acknowledging them._

"_I miss the boss and Iggy as much as I loath them! I even miss that geeky little fox!" Tears came to his eyes as he clenched his fists. A small grin came to his face. "If I ever get outta here, I'll…I'll hug all three of them, even that fox-dork!_

"_But how do I get off this giant iceberg?.?.? There hasn't been a single ship here ever since I crash landed. Not even some crummy group of scientists." He sighed again as the babies went back to playing their game. "If only I had some mode of travel, something that'll let me go at the speed of sound. I could zoom across the ocean and right back to the studio. But what—" He blinked and looked down as he spoke. "—am I…gonna…use…?"_

_He stared at his fully-functioning air skates for about a minute before looking up with a sharp glare and facing the camera. He then pulled out a sign that read, "**I KNOW! I KNOW! I'm just as confused as you folks!**" He turned to the chicks and cleared his throat._

"_Babies, we're going home."_

"_Chirp, chirp, chirp?" They tilted their heads._

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

_So after getting some fish for the road, Izzy picked up his belongings, burned the book Iggy gave him to a crisp, and put on his vest. He promptly guided the chicks out of the cave and destroyed the whole glacier with his strongest battle chip. He then melted the debris with his second strongest, leaving behind a large lake. The babies clapped in awe as he dusted off his hands and put the mallet away._

"_And that, my dear chickies, is what I'm gonna do to your uncle when I see him." He said. He then opened the backpack's flap and made some space before bending down towards the chicks. "Ok, hop in and hang on tight. Things are gonna get a little rocky."_

"_Cheep! Cheep!" The little penguins cheered as they waddled over to the bag and climbed inside. _

_Once they were comfortable inside, the hedgehog lifted the backpack and slipped it on. Due to the added weight, he wound up wobbling all around, trying to regain his balance. The babies chirped and giggled as the ride continued. After a few moments, Izzy managed to fix his footing. He then faced the frozen, iceberg-filled ocean, getting ready for the trip._

"_Take a good long look, guys!" He started, preparing to skate. "You won't see this place for a **looooooooooong** time!" He then added under his breath, "Thank God."_

_With that, he sped off towards the ocean. He quickly gained speed as he skated closer and closer to the water. The chicks chirped and waved their flippers in enjoyment as everything around them blurred and slowed to a crawl._

_When he reached the closest beach, Izzy blazed onto the ocean, throwing up massive towers of water. His natural speed combined with the hovering capabilities of his skates allowed him to stay above the water's surface. Whole schools of fish flew onto the beach, creating a buffet for the nearby colonies of penguins. The hedgehog maneuvered around the numerous icebergs and pods of blue whales. The chicks waved as their "mom" sped by some adult penguins that were porpoising (jumping out of the water to breathe) as they hunted. Soon, the trio passed the icebergs and scores of aquatic life and reached the open ocean!_

"_Alright!" Izzy cheered. "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner! We'll be home in no time as long as nothing happens!" He then looked behind him. "How are you two holding up!.?"_

"_Cheep!.!.!" The babies shouted with glee._

_And so, the trio journeyed clear across the ocean. Close to two hours into the daunting trek, the temperature rose sharply; something that Izzy was very thankful for. The hedgehog and chicks zoomed by the southern most tip of South America, breathing in the hot tropical air. The "mother" grinned as he realized this hot weather was only part of the experience he missed so much back home. Not to mention that he was no longer shivering. The babies, not being used to such intense conditions, retreated into the backpack for shade and protection from the sun._

_Naturally, they occasionally popped their cute little heads out to see where they were. Of course, this led to far more trouble than the violet one experienced back in the chicks' homeland. In Antarctica, he had to fend off vicious skua, leopard seals, and orca whales to protect them. Once or twice, he even faced off against **sharks**!.!.! Out here in the warmer ocean, his troubles almost doubled. He faced various species of sharks, seagulls, and even had some trouble with a whale (the younger chick actually wound up playing on the colossal beast's **teeth**! Luckily, Izzy was able to get to him before it closed its huge mouth). _

_Despite the many marine animals that wanted to make lunch out of the babies, Izzy was able to keep them out of harm's way until they finally saw land. The hedgehog grinned when he saw the seaside amusement park and the other familiar buildings. He looked over his shoulder while continuing forward._

"_Take a look, guys!" He shouted. The chicks poked their heads out of the bag and squawked at the sight of the town. "Welcome to your new home!"_

"_Chirp! Chirp!.!.!" The baby penguins exclaimed happily. They both hugged Izzy in celebration. Unfortunately, the act of love blinded the "mother." Izzy began to swerve out of control!_

"_Ack! I can't see!" He screamed in fright as he tried to pull the penguins off him with little success. By the time he was able to get them off him…_

_°CRASH!.!.!°_

_He collided with one of the pier's pillars. The trio then fell into the water._

_-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-_

_After the chicks dragged Izzy to shore and slapped the water out of his lungs, the tired hedgehog got up and marched off towards the outskirts of Ocean Shores. The babies waddled after him. The now irate boy put on his best sneer as he traversed the steep hill towards the entrance to the RP fan village. He hadn't forgotten about the reason he wound up taking a flight to the South Pole. He gritted his teeth in bitter rage as thoughts about what he'll do to his brother when he reaches the No Worries studio. His fists were clenched tightly as sharp growls came from his throat._

_After gaining entrance to the village through a large, golden gate, the trio walked through the city-like area amongst shocked gasps and disappointed groans from authors and fan characters that thought Izzy had finally disappeared. Among those sounds were cooing noises and cheers from the girls that saw them. It seemed as if they were reacting to the chicks, who stayed close to their "mother." Soon they left the city and traveled down a road that had many studios on either side. The hedgehog continued stomping his way towards his temporary place of employment, followed by the relieved babies._

_Meanwhile…_

"_Hey Iggy!" I called, walking towards the studio gates. I looked around for my partner's little brother. "Where are ya?.!"_

"_Up here, Daddy!" Iggy waved from his high position. He was inside a makeshift watchtower, wearing a pair of binoculars around his neck. It was made of wood, which easily clashed with the studio's brick wall._

"_Still looking for him, huh?"_

"_Uh-huh!" The furry nodded. "I won't give up until he comes back!" He then blinked. "Hey daddy, why are you wearing that snazzy suit?"_

_In addition to my standard crown, cape, and dirty sneakers, I was wearing a black suit and tie, complete with monocle._

"_Oh, you noticed?" I asked, flaunting around. "I'm going to gala premiere of Chao in Space: Episode Three over at the Ortega. Wanna come with?"_

"_I can go!.?.!" Iggy shouted with a huge grin. I nodded._

"_Of course! Since Izzy's been gone, there's plenty of time for us to go to events like this."_

_That was when the little hedgehog's ears drooped. I slapped my hand over my mouth. I forgot that he's been depressed ever since he knocked his brother out of the country._

"_Think he'll ever come back?" He asked._

"_Sure he will!" I answered. "Besides, I could just bring him back here anytime I want. I **am** the author, after all."_

_Iggy looked at me strangely. "…Then why didn't you?"_

_I shrugged. "Plot convenience. Not to mention it gave us a well deserved break."_

"_But—"_

_The then, the studio's steel gates were slammed open. The sudden crash caused Iggy's watchtower to collapse. The boy screamed as he fell. He landed with a thud. He got up and wobbled dizzily. He seemed fine…until the rest of the tower landed on him… I cringed at the wreck before looking back at the gates. Someone was approaching us. The figure was looking downwards, clenching its fists in an unimaginable rage. Behind them was a couple of smaller shapes, looking around the bigger figure's legs before retreating every few seconds. Iggy climbed out of the lumber and groaned in agony before turning towards the gates. He took a look at the figure as it stopped mere feet from us. We gasped at the sight of the being._

"_Izzy!.!.!" We shouted, running over to him. He was still in his enraged state as we approached._

"_Bro! I missed ya so much!" Iggy shouted, hardly containing his excitement. Izzy only growled in response._

"_Heh, I knew you'd find your way back eventually." I said with a smirk. "Good to see ya again."_

"_Oh Izzy! I thought I'd never see ya again!" The younger hedgehog shouted, rubbing the tears out of his eyes._

"_Iggy…" Izzy seethed. Iggy paled at the tone in his voice. He knew that he was in trouble whenever his big brother spoke in that tone, which was just about every day._

"_Y-yeah…?" He stuttered, taking a step backwards. His quills went white as snow when his brother raised his arms to attack._

_And the he hugged him._

"_WHA?.?.?" I gaped with wide eyes as I witnessed Izzy, the most evil character I've ever known, **HUGGING** his little brother!.!.! Not even LARS hugs his brother!.!.! Iggy, just as surprised, tried to get out of the bone crushing embrace, but the older furry wasn't about to let go. The sound of bones breaking was heard at least ten times before he finally let go. He then rounded on me._

"_Well boss, a promise is a promise. Come 'ere!" He advanced towards me. I didn't know what promise he was talking about, but I did know that I didn't want to suffer the same fate as Iggy, who was lying on the ground with a dazed expression. So I did the only thing I knew to do._

_°WHAM!.!.!°_

"_Whew…" I breathed a sigh of relief as Izzy backed away, holding his head in pain. "That was close…"_

"_So much for showing him how much I missed him…" He groaned as I brandished my mallet._

"_Man Izzy, where were you all this time?"_

"_Believe me, it's a loooooong story." The hedgehog sighed._

"_I bet." I said, crossing my arms. I blinked when I heard chirping. I looked down and saw the two chicks. They squawked and dove behind Izzy. Raising an eyebrow, I looked at him. "Ummm… What are those behind you?"_

"_What?" Izzy said, shaking his head. Then he too heard the penguins. He looked at them and then chuckled bashfully as he turned back to me. "These are—erm…—my chicks… I…hatched…them…"_

"…" _Again, I gaped at him. "Th-those chicks are yours…? As in they think you're their mother?"_

_Izzy simply nodded. I kept my shocked gaze on him for a few moments before shaking my head and holding it._

"_Ok… Well what are their names?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_Whaddya mean 'huh!.?.!'" I gave him a sharp glare. "They're your kids! Don't they have names?.?.?"_

"_Oh crap!" He blinked picking up the chicks, who nuzzled against him. "I forgot to name you two!" Iggy, who recovered, and I turned white. Since when did he let small animals cuddle against him!.?.!_

"_So what am I supposed to name them?" He asked us._

"_How should I know?" I shrugged. "They're **your** chicks!"_

"_Yeah, but you're their grandfather and uncle! Help me!" He roared._

"_Ugh… It was strange and weird while it lasted…" I remarked before snapping at him. "Grandfather!.?.! I'm too young to be a grandfather!.!.!"_

"_Aw!.!.!" Iggy squealed, clasping his hands. "I'm an uncle, and to a couple of cute penguins too!"_

"_Yah…" Izzy rolled his eyes. He blinked and looked me over from his position on the ground. "Yo boss, what's with the penguin suit?"_

"_Hmmm? Oh! I'm wearing this tuxedo to go to a movie premiere." I explained, sighing. "It's been so quiet without ya around…"_

_He glared at me. "Oh I'll show ya quiet, you little—" His eyes brightened as an idea came up. "I got it! I'll name you—" He held up the older chick. "—Tux and you—" He held up the younger one. "—Edo! How do you like it?"_

_The chicks tilted their heads in thought before turning to each other. They then conversed in their language before turning back to their "mother" and nodding. For the second time that day, Iggy and I were beyond weirded out when we saw Izzy grin and hug the penguin chicks while they all cheered over the success of being named. I sneered and turned to Iggy with my fists on my hips._

"_You hit him so hard you gave him amnesia, didn't you?"_

"_Wha?.?.?" Iggy flinched at my glare. "No I didn't daddy! I only hit him hard enough to blow him away! Honest!"_

"_Then why isn't he trying to pound you into the earth!.?"_

"_Oh don't worry." Izzy reassured, his voice venomous. "I **will** get my revenge for what Iggy did." The hedgehog in question gulped and shuddered. "But for now, I just wanna rest and take care of my babies. Isn't that right?" He added, tickling Tux and Edo's bellies. The little penguins laughed and flailed their flippers in a false attempt to get away. Iggy and I simply held our heads and groaned._

"_My head hurts…" The latter said._

"_You and me both…" I agreed._

_That was when we heard voices. They became steadily louder as the speakers drew closer. We all turned and saw Sam, Otto, and Twister discussing a new trick the scarlet hedgehog created. I grinned at the sight of the fox. If anything can bring the dark one back to his evil ways, it's his rival! _

_The trio of furries soon reached us and uncomfortable silence overtook all of us. Even Tux and Edo, who were being giddy only seconds prior, were now looking back and forth between their "mom" and the fox. Izzy and Sam stared each other in the eye for several minutes, during which Iggy managed to step in between them and scoop up the penguins. This allowed the older hedgehog to stand and regard his rival. Everyone waited with bated breath as they prepared to settle this!_

"_Fox-Dork." Izzy said._

"_Y-yes…?" Sam maintained his courage._

_Silence, then…_

"_**I MISSED YA SO MUCH!.!.!**" The hedgehog roared, lunging at the fox._

"_Woah!" The kitsune yelped, jumping to the side. Izzy wound up landing flat on his face. He slowly got back to his feet while keeping that **extremely** uncharacteristic grin on his face. Sam sweatdropped._

"_C'mon! Lemme give ya a hug!"_

"_Run Sammy!" Otto shouted from the sidelines._

"_You don't have to tell **me** twice!" The fox replied, scampering away. Unfortunately, Izzy gave chase…with wide open arms!_

"_C'mon! Just one hug!" He pleaded._

"_No way! Back off!" Sam screamed, increasing speed._

_As we witnessed the chase, all of us except for the chicks, who were clapping their flippers and cheering for their "mother," were white with shock. Our mouths were hanging open and our eyes went completely white._

"_It's so good to be home!" Izzy shouted, pouncing again. Luckily, Sam dodged him again._

"_I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually miss the **old** Izzy!.!.!" He yelled._

_All of us on the sidelines fell over as the hedgehog chased the fox into the sunset._

°°End Flashback°°

"Well, now that we're back to speed, let's see what happens to Izzy now!" Rod said excitably.

As soon as he spoke those words, everything turned from black and white back to their normal colors. Everyone in the commissary was able to move again. All of them were stretching and making noises of relief. Tux and Edo shook their bodies and waved their flippers.

"Ugh… That flashback took _way_ too long…" I moaned, trying to relax.

"I thought I'd never be able to move again…" Iggy said dizzily.

"_Why_ was there a flashback in the first place…?" Izzy groaned.

"Cheep, cheep." The chicks twittered.

"Where were we, anyway?" Izzy asked.

"And how much further do we have to go?" The younger sibling added.

"Let's see…" I muttered, pulling out the script. I flipped through a few pages before sweatdropping. "Oy… We actually have a long ways to go…"

"You and your crummy overwriting…" The older hedgehog grumbled. I sneered at him in response.

"Uh-oh… The babies are getting hungry." Iggy pointed out. Izzy and I turned from our argument to face Tux and Edo. Both of them were holding their bellies and chirping weakly.

"Ok." I nodded. "We'll take an hour for lunch then start recording for the next update. Deal?"

"Deal!.!.!" Everyone in the cafeteria shouted. The camera then faced Rod, who was scratching his head.

"Erm… I guess I better take a break too." He said before waving at the camera. "We'll see ya next time, folks for the end of this tale! Til next time!"

And the camera irised out with the words, "To be continued" shown in white.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A/N: It…was…too…freakin'…LONG!.!.! I mean the conversations COMBINED were longer than the actual chapter! X.X °Sighs° The price one must pay to have fun and convey emotion, comedy, action, and two incredibly cute penguins in one update… On the bright side though, this story finally broke **TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND** words!.!.! Yayness!.!.! I can't believe it's actually gotten this big!

Now time for reviewer responses!

Warior: The story keeps getting more and more interesting! If you guys haven't checked out the review board yet, do so now and read the side story!

Mythica: New Mexico, huh? Sounds fun! Yeah, I heard deserts are brutal at night and early in the morning. Are they worse than during the day? And yeah, that alligator was crazy hard to outrun, especially as Team Dark for some reason… And on a personal note, I don't really mind the new voices featured in Shadow's gem of a game. In fact, the only voices I ever really had a problem with in Sonic X were Dr. Robotnik's E-series robots, Gamma especially. °Shudders°

All that aside, see ya next update, folks!


	24. Team Tussle Two, Part 2, 3

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part Six

The scene opened in the studio commissary. Everyone present was eating ice cream after a rather huge lunch. Tux and Edo were sitting next to Izzy as they licked their own cones. Between licks, they would nuzzle against their "mother," causing him to turn red in the face. Those watching the scene found it hard to contain their laughter, something that annoyed the hedgehog to no end. He growled at the crowd, who flinched and scooted away. He sighed and went back to licking his ice cream while putting an elbow on the table. The babies continued their exercise of affection unaffected by their "mom's" usual mood. He faced Iggy and me. We were pausing between licks to whisper our plan to each other. He glowered at us before clearing his throat.

"How much longer?" He asked.

"Hmmm?" I hummed, turning to him. I blinked in realization. "Oh! I almost forgot about continuing from the last update!"

"Figures." The hedgehog gave an exasperated sigh before finishing off his ice cream in one gulp…and getting a massive brain freeze in the process. "ACK!.!.! The pain!"

The rest of us at the table sweatdropped as he held his head to try to get rid of the pain. Imitating him, Tux and Edo inhaled their frozen treats too. Strangely though, they didn't suffer the same fate as Izzy… When the hedgehog recovered, he looked at the chicks strangely. He then turned to me with an irritated look.

"Dare I ask why?"

I shrugged. "Maybe they're not affected because they're so used to living in a cold environment?"

Izzy groaned. "Whatever. Moving on—and continuing this thing…—why are they here anyway?"

"Well…" I started, opening the briefcase and pulling out some papers. "I've been thinking that it's about time we have some new blood join our crew and who better than our very own Tux and Edo?"

"Cheep, cheep!" The babies squawked, clapping their flippers in agreement.

"Of course, in order to add to our cast, we must downsize a bit first. 'Trim the fat,' one might say." I continued, drumming my fingers. I then gave Izzy, who was beyond stressed, a grim look. "Sorry to say, we'll have to get rid of you."

"_Me!.?.!_" The hedgehog yelled in shock. "You're replacing _me_ with _them_!.?" He pointed at the penguins on either side of him. They winked at him in response. "How _dare_ you!.?.!"

"Pretty simple reason." I replied, not even blinking at his display of rage. "Remember two updates ago when Iggy told you about that rule?"

Izzy blanched. "Erm… The one where you can banish me to a prison in the Pokémon Dimension for the rest of _your_ life for repeatedly disobeying you?"

"Yep!" Iggy cheered.

The older hedgehog gulped. "Y-y-y-you wouldn't…"

"Oh I wouldn't, huh?" I smirked evilly. "It just so happens that I had the Wheel of Plotlines repaired since your little power surge. And I've been _itching_ to test it out. In other words…" I pointed dramatically at him. "I officially disown you as my partner!"

The crowd gasped in horror. Izzy gaped at those words. The color drained from his face as the words echoed in his mind. He huddled against a corner and spun his finger on the ground while I laid two sheets of paper in front of Tux and Edo. The babies tilted their heads questioningly as I placed an ink pad in-between them.

"Now then, you little bundles of joy, these are full lifetime contracts to join Iggy and I here in the studio. You'll make good pay in ice cream, fish, shrimp, sushi, and other assorted seafood. Of course, we also offer full benefits. Health, dental, life, accidental, the works! Whaddya say?"

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!.!.!" The chicks gleefully agreed. They both placed a flipper in the ink pad and "signed" on the dotted line of their respectable contracts.

"Yayness! I'm so glad you joined us, babies!" Iggy shouted, jumping from his seat. He ran around to the other side of the table and hugged them. Tux and Edo cheeped in joy as they returned the hug, effectively getting ink all over them. The little tykes didn't care though. They were having too much fun to worry about how dirty they were getting. I chuckled as I got off my seat.

"Well, I know a certain trio that's gonna need a bath later." I walked around to the corner. "And as for _you_—" I pointed to Izzy, who was curled up in a fetal position. "—It's time for you to go bye-bye! This way!"

The strangely saddened hedgehog stood up and slouched after me. Iggy, the chicks, Rod, and everyone else present followed us as we left the cafeteria. As we marched through the backlot, Izzy became nervous as he thought about all he was leaving behind.

'_Crap! I can't believe he's really gonna go through with it!_' He lamented, shaking with fright. '_After all the years we've been doing this, he's really going to send me up the river. I just can't imagine it. Me in jail… This has gotta be a bad dream or something. Maybe I'll wake up in bed and everything will be normal. Just another day of chasing that insufferable fox! …And running from Keoni…_

He sighed. '_Man, am I gonna miss him… I mean, he's the closest thing I've had to a friend, despite him trying to marry me. And the babies… What's gonna happen to them?_' He looked back at the dirty chicks, who were cuddling against an equally dirty Iggy. Izzy turned to me.

"What are ya gonna do with the chicks?" He asked emotionlessly. I blinked at his concern for them. Normally, he wouldn't show them any love whatsoever. He always avoids them whenever he can.

"Hmph, don't worry." I answered, crossing my arms. "Iggy will take care of them. At least _he_ shows them the love all children deserve. Almost makes me wish _he_ hatched their eggs instead."

"…" The words hit the hedgehog like a knife to the heart. He bowed his head as they closed in on the main set. "…I…cared for them…" He spoke under his breath before stepping inside.

A huge crowd was assembled in the stands, watching with somber looks as if they were inside a courthouse awaiting the sentencing of a guilty criminal. It was completely dark aside from center stage, where the fully repaired Wheel of Plotlines stood under a spotlight. Waiting in front of it were Otto, Twister, Sam, and Reggie. The fox was directly in front of it, looking anxious as we approached. As expected, Izzy snarled upon seeing the bespectacled furry.

"_You!.!.!_" He roared, sprinting forward. "Figures you'd show your face the day I get carted off!.!.!"

Wide eyed, Sammy screamed and cowered in fright. Sighing in boredom, I snapped my fingers. Quite possibly risking their very lives, the other three members of the Ozone Street Regulars stepped in and held the enraged hedgehog back. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Izzy moved his feet lightning fast, slowly pushing back the other three furries! Giving another bored sigh, I pulled out my mallet and casually walked up to him. The violet hedgehog took no notice as I raised my weapon above my head. He was positively foaming at the mouth as he concentrated all of his energy into bringing harm to the Squid!

°WHAM!.!.!°

Izzy babbled incoherent words as he stumbled around, stars flying around his head. Sam breathed a sigh of relief as he wiped his sweaty head.

"Now then, it's time to begin!" I announced, leaning against my weapon. Izzy shook his head and shivered when I pointed a finger at him. "You will now pay for your past indiscretions, my _former_ partner. If you'll turn to the Wheel of Plotlines, you'll see your fate."

The hedgehog gulped and turned towards the stage. On the wheel, all of the panels were set so that they had poké balls on them. He gulped at the sight. No matter what panel the wheel landed on, he'll be whisked away to some prison inside his home dimension. He sweatdropped and turned to me.

"Kinda one-sided, huh?"

I shrugged. "Well, you _are_ being punished. In any case, step forward and prepare to spin the wheel for the final time."

Izzy took a step towards the stage when he stopped, bowed his head, and turned around.

"I have one request first."

"Hmmmm… I _guess_ I could grant you a last wish before ya go to Sing-Sing." I replied, stroking my chin. "What is it?"

That was when he turned towards Tux and Edo, who were now paying attention to the situation. "Let me say good-bye."

I blinked then sighed. "Ya picked a really good time to be noble, ya know? Go ahead and say your last good-byes."

As Izzy walked towards the penguins, I couldn't help but smirk at him. This was going much better than I had anticipated! I didn't expect him to care so much about being forced to leave. Considering how he normally acts, you'd think he'd be happy to leave! Hmmm… Guess the threat of being incarcerated outweighed his general dislike of us… I couldn't help but snicker as he bent down and wiped the ink off them with his vest. The babies chirped in gratitude, to which he pet both of them. A shaky smile appeared on his face as he prepared to speak.

"Listen, you two…" He started. "I'm going on a little trip."

"Cheep?" They tilted their heads.

"I don't know how long I'll be gone." He continued. "But I should be back soon. Listen to your uncle, get to bed early, take plenty of baths, and most importantly…"

By now, the crowd, the golden quartet (yes, including Otto!), and even little Rod were reduced to tears by the heartwarming scene. I sweatdropped at everyone. Weren't they aware that this was all an elaborate prank?

Izzy raised his head, revealing his bloodshot eyes. Tears fell down his cheeks like two tiny waterfalls. I gaped in pure amazement. I never knew my very own partner was this emotional! I quickly pulled out a pad and pen to write this down for future use.

"Don't forget that I love you!.!.!" He shouted before grabbing the penguins in a hearty embrace. He bawled as Tux and Edo, confused, but still glad to be held, returned the hug happily, despite being soaked to the bone by the salty cascade.

I snapped my fingers in annoyance when I noticed that Iggy was too busy crying to take a picture of this moment with one of his many cameras. This would've made some excellent blackmail material. I sighed and cleared my throat in an attempt to bring order to this sappy scene.

"Ahem! As much as I hate to interrupt this, it's time to go, Izzy."

After kissing the chicks good-bye, which made me _really_ wish Iggy was able to use his camera, the grieving hedgehog stepped onto the stage and stood under the ? block floating by the Wheel of Plotlines.

"I'm sure you know how this works," I started to the crowd. "But for those new or those who forgot how the wheel works—after all, it's been over a year since we last used it…—here's our resident chipmunk, Roderick Vandenack, to explain it all! Take it away, Rod!"

The audience cheered and applauded as a spotlight turned on over the furry in the blue Hawaiian shirt. Rod cleared his throat and pulled out his microphone.

"Ok, when Prince Izzy gives the signal, Izzy will start spinning the wheel!" He began. "Then once he's ready, he'll punch the block floating over his head. The wheel will stop and land on one of the panels, which will send him away."

At this, Izzy started trembling again.

"But there's a twist. One of the panels is a dummy panel! If the wheel lands on _that_ one, then Izzy gets to stay here and won't be forced to stay at a prison in the Pokémon world!"

The crowd cheered at this turn of events while Izzy's frightful tremble turned into a nervous, desperate one. He cast a glance at the wheel behind him.

'_One fake panel… If I manage to hit that one, I'll be able to stay with the boss, Iggy, the babies, and everyone else._' He blinked then put on a disgusted look. '_Ugh… Did I just **think** I wanna stay with the boss and Iggy?.?.?_' He shuddered at the thought.

"Of course, none of us have any idea which one is the phony panel, so good luck, Izzy! Hope you'll be able to stay with us!" The chipmunk finished before moving offstage. I then stepped up with a cunning smirk on my face.

"Well, ya heard Rod. I'm giving ya one chance to stick around with us. Don't blow it." I warned.

Izzy gulped. "R-r-right… I just have one question though."

"What?"

"Why do _I_ have to spin it? It usually starts spinning as soon as you snap your fingers."

"For good luck." I answered casually. "If ya spin it, there will be a better chance of you hitting the dummy panel."

"Fine, whatever." Izzy sighed, walking over to the wheel. He grabbed one of the many pegs situated at the ends of the panels. '_If I just spin it lightly, there's a good chance it'll stop on the dummy._'

"Well, here goes!" The hedgehog shouted, pulling the peg upwards then putting a light amount of strength into his swing.

He wound up spinning around at while still hanging on to the wheel! He was just a purple blur hanging on to the multicolored swirl that was the Wheel of Plotlines! The rest of us sweatdropped at the sight.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" He screamed dizzily. "What the—I spun it lightly!.!.!"

"Heh, well that's the thing." Rod started, pulling out a wrench. "I was working on repairing the wheel when I noticed it was rusty from not being used in so long. You'd hear this screeching sound whenever you spun it! So I had to take it apart and replace the rusty axel. It was completely silent after that! With a little oil, its speed even increased!" He grinned proudly as he moved the tool around his gloved fingers. "I also made the wheel able to stop instantly as soon as you hit that block! Just another helpful adjustment to help out our guests at No Worries Studios!"

The crowd applauded the chipmunk as the dizzy hedgehog was finally tossed from the wheel. He flew towards the ceiling, yelling, until he crashed into it. He then fell to the ground with a thud. As he got up and birds flew around his head, Tux and Edo held up two signs. Tux's read "8.5" and Edo's read "7.0." I cringed at the scores.

"Ouch… You'd think they'd be more supportive considering he's their mother…"

"Daddy! You know the babies are impartial no matter who they're judging!" Iggy shouted. "They're professionals, after all."

"Heh, heh… Good point…" I conceded, rubbing the back of my head.

Meanwhile, Izzy shook his head and stumbled over to the ? block. He trembled in utter disbelief as he looked at the wheel, which was still spinning at top speed!

'_Oh GOD!.!.! There's no way I can hit the dummy panel at this rate!_' He sighed in defeat as he raised his arm. '_I guess I deserve this… After everything I've said and done in this dimension, I deserve to get tossed in some jail, never to see the light of day or anyone that actually cares for me again… It's over… My life as I know it is over…_'

With that final thought lingering on his mind, he gave the block a little love tap. A screeching sound was heard mere seconds later. The wheel instantly stopped on its current poké ball panel, one that had a blue background. Shortly after, the wheel flashed brightly and hissed as smoke engulfed Izzy. The hedgehog let his tears of regret fall freely as he awaited his fate. The light grew brighter, the hissing became louder, and the smoke cloud got denser as the crowd eagerly watched to see what would happen next.

The wheel continued processing the programming inside the panel for several minutes before it suddenly stopped. The silence that ensued shortly after was very tense. Everyone waited with bated breath to learn the evil boy's fate. But nothing happened… Slowly, Izzy opened one eye and looked around. He was still in the Rocket Power dimension. Everybody gave him a cautious look. He carefully opened the other eye, confirming that he indeed was still here with us.

"Huh…?" was the first word out of his mouth as he kneeled. "D-d-did I…hit the dummy panel…?.?.?"

No one said anything, leaving him to figure out the answer for himself. A slow smile appeared on his lips as he stood again.

"I-I'm still here…" He grinned. "I'm still here!"

The audience applauded him to congratulate him. Tears of joy fell down his face as he pumped his arms in triumph.

"I get to stay! I get to stay! I get to—"

Suddenly, he heard a swishing sound, like a door had been opened. All the joy went out of his face as he looked down with wide eyes.

There was nothing but air and darkness under his feet!.!.!

With a sorrowful expression, Izzy looked back up and waved good-bye. He fell shortly after.

"AIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!.!.!"

His terrified screams became fainter and fainter until nothing more was heard, except for a very low splash and a call for help. All of us ran over to the platform to see where the trapdoor led, if anywhere. We barely saw the beginning of a long slide.

"Woah…" Twister was the first to speak. "Is it bottomless?"

"Duh! Of course not!" Reggie shouted. "Didn't you hear the splash!.?"

"Then where did he go?" Otto asked.

The trio turned to Sam and Rod, who were grinning as they high fived each other.

"I can't believe that worked!" The chipmunk yelled with an enthusiastic laugh.

"Oh, it was worth everything we had to do to prepare!" The kitsune supplied, laughing.

"Erm… Explanation please?" The crimson hedgehog inquired, turning to me. I had my own grin as I prepared to answer.

"You see, young Roderick here built an elaborate water slide under the studio, which will lead Izzy on a high speed, wet trip down to the catacombs deep underground." I explained. The chipmunk held up the hand holding the wrench and gave a thumbs-up. "There, he'll receive his surprise. Hopefully, he'll act a little more civilized after this."

Twister blinked. "So the panels were…"

"All fake." Sam answered with a nod.

"We just said all but one was real to make Izzy sweat!" Rod added, keeping that grin on him.

Iggy blinked as he turned to me. "Is all this true, daddy?" I chuckled as I nodded.

"Yep! Most of the credit should go to Sammy and Rod, of course. We couldn't have done it without their computer and mechanical skills!" The furries in question took a bow.

"And the part about Tux and Edo joining us? Was it an act too?"

The babies looked up at me hopefully. I bent down and pet them lovingly.

"Nah, that part of the plan _was_ real. I've been meaning to get the chicks sighed into the studio for a while now. This was the perfect opportunity to do it. So they're gonna stay with us a long, long time."

"Coolies!.!.!" The little hedgehog cheered, punching the air. He too bent down and hugged the penguins. Tux and Edo cooed as they returned the embrace. I smiled at the trio as I stood up.

"So how long will it take Izzy to arrive at the catacombs?" Reggie asked.

"Hmmm… If I remember how we set the water flow and all the jumps, turns, and loops Rod built into the slide, it should take him roughly thirty minutes to an hour for him to reach the bottom." Sam explained.

"Or in other words, til the end of the chapter." I clarified.

"We better get down there before he does guys!" Otto cut in. Everyone else nodded.

"Alright, let's get—"

"Hey, Tux! Edo!" Iggy cut me off. "Don't get too close!"

The rest of us turned to see the baby penguins looking over the edge of the trapdoor their "mother" fell down. They chirped and squawked at one another for a few seconds before nodding and jumping in! Their laughter and clapping could be heard getting fainter until two tiny splashes were heard. All of us looked down the hole again. We just barely saw the chicks sliding down the chute on their bellies. I scratched my head as we all stood straight up.

"Heh, guess they decided to take the more fun ride down…"

"Ya think?" Otto remarked.

"C'mon! Let's get downstairs already!" Twister shouted impatiently.

"Alright, alright!" I said, walking over to a nearby elevator. "This express lift should get us down there in half the time it'll take Izzy and the babies to get there."

Everyone else nodded and filed in. It was a tight squeeze, but we were all able to fit inside.

"Ugh!" I grunted as Sam's tails tickled my nose. "Quit it! You're gonna make me-me-ACHOO!.!.!"

"Ewwwwww!.!.!" Everyone else but Rod and Iggy (being the smallest, they didn't get soaked) shouted.

"Sneeze?" The former offered.

"Yeah…" I sniffled.

"Bless you, daddy!" Iggy offered.

"Thanks…" I said, rubbing my nose.

"Maybe _we_ better do the chapter description." Rod kindly suggested. I merely nodded, feeling another sneeze coming on. Both of the tiny furries faced the camera with toothy grins. "In this chapter, we're finally going to see the end of the fight between Team Lars and Team Rocket!"

"Yeah! Who's gonna win, Lars' team of grunts or Otto, Sammy-Sam and Twisty-Twist!.?" Iggy added. Reggie sneered at the grunt comment while Sam and Twister giggled at the nicknames they were unceremoniously given.

"Read on to find out!.!.!" Both boys shouted, pounding each other's fists and waving at the camera as the elevator doors closed. Another sneeze and several noises of discomfort were made as the camera faded to black.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rocket Heroes

Chapter Twelve

Team Tussle Two

Part Two-Three

"Dark Twister!.!.!" Lars' voice echoed throughout the forest. A tree fell with a tremendous crash shortly after.

"Woah!.!.!" Otto yelped, narrowly avoiding the huge piece of wood and running for it.

"Get back here twerp!" Lars shouted after him. He bounded from tree to tree after his rival.

"Crap! He's gone off the deep end!" The scarlet hedgehog shouted, looking over his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw him spinning around in the air again.

"Dark Twister!"

He conjured up another purple tornado and directed it right at Otto! It got dangerously close, but the younger furry was able to avoid it with no problem. He jumped towards the nearest tree and kicked off it before Lars' attack struck the ground. The violet hedgehog smirked as he pulled out one of his Chaos Emeralds.

"Gotcha. Chaos Control!"

In a blue flash of light, he disappeared, then reappeared right below Otto. Just as fast as he appeared, he jumped up with intent to kick him good and hard! The red hedgehog looked down and groaned, having noticed Lars.

"How does he do that!.?" He asked himself before rolling into a ball.

In seconds flat, Lars made like a football player and punted him skywards. Poor Otto grunted in pain as he bounced off the trees like a pinball until he eventually cleared the canopy and was high above the forest. He unrolled and moaned, trying to get his bearings back. His eyes were two swirls and his lips were curled dizzily.

"Ugh… Now I think I know how Squid felt back in the Grand Canyon…" He groaned, slapping his hand over his mouth.

Quickly remembering he was a hedgehog and therefore can't fly, he reached out for something to grab onto as he fell towards the woods. Luckily, he was able to grab onto a branch, just as he tossed his cookies.

Thankfully, his lunch was not wasted!

As the multicolored mess of digested food fell, an egg in a nest down below was hatching. It shook and shook in Nature's basket for several seconds before finally cracking as the baby within fought to escape. A tiny beak poked a hole through the roof of its former home. It retreated back inside the egg then repeatedly jabbed at it before breaking through, leaving only the bottom half intact. The chick chirped hungrily, begging to be given its first of many feedings by the life-form it would soon regard as its mother.

Just as it was about to let out another loud cry, the regurgitated mess landed right inside its mouth! The stream of vomit kept falling, filling the little bird up to nearly the breaking point! When it finally finished, the no longer famished chick, having broken out of the eggshell's lower half, reclined into the nest, pulled out a twig, and moved it around its beak like a toothpick while patting its huge belly with the other wing. It then winked at the camera before burping. It covered its mouth as it blushed.

"'Scuse me!" It squeaked and giggled.

Back up at the top of the tree, Otto regained his strength and pulled himself up. He looked around and noticed that he was able to see the entire forest from up there. In the distance, he saw a great valley. In the middle of it was a huge lake that was surrounded on nearly all sides by various rock formations. He then noticed some tiny objects moving around on the largest cliff. A red and orange line was seen shooting from there every few seconds.

The hedgehog blinked and tried to figure out what it was when he heard a low, evil laugh. He turned and found Lars standing on a nearby treetop with his arms crossed. The violet one smirked as the crimson one gaped in disbelief.

"B-b-but I—a-and you…! And then I…you!.?.!" Otto babbled, switching between pointing down, up, at himself, and Lars. The taller leader rolled his eyes as his rival carried on like this for some time before finally shouting, "How'd you get up here so fast!.?.!"

Lars snickered, enjoying his enemy's confusion. "That's for me to know and you to _never_ find out! Now if ya don't mind, I was just about to finish your whomping!"

"Oh yeah!.?" The other hedgehog challenged, putting up both fists. "Come and get some, Lars!"

"With pleasure, Rocket Dork!" Lars replied, disappearing again.

"Uh-oh!" Otto yelped, looking around frantically in an attempt to find his opponent. Lars was nowhere to be found though. That was when the younger hedgehog snapped his fingers. "I got it!"

With that, he jumped towards the gap between trees and spun around, stirring up the wind. Soon, there was a red swirl of air that threatened to blow the trees in the area off their roots! Fortunately, the sudden gust didn't last long. Only a few seconds after Otto initiated his attack, Lars reappeared and was blown away.

"Augh!.!.!" He grunted, trying to right himself. Otto wasn't going to give him the opportunity!

The scarlet furry shot out of the tornado as a ball and rammed right into Lars, throwing him down to the forest below. The violet hedgehog fought to grab on to something, _anything_, to stop falling! He bounced off the trees like a rag doll during his drop before finally grabbing onto a vine. The winded boy gasped for air and blinked to regain his vision. When everything came back into focus and he was given time to think, Lars slapped his head and gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"He did NOT just do that!.!.!" He hissed. "When I get back up there, I'm gonna—"

He couldn't finish for he looked up and noticed that Otto was falling towards him like a cannonball! Eyes bulging and his mouth dropping, the older leader looked down and noticed that the vine stretched all the way to the ground. Following the only logical choice of action, he allowed himself to slide all the way down the green rope as if his very life depended on it, and it kinda did! The friction caused by the vine rubbing against his gloves burned his hands slightly, but he was able to manage.

When he reached the ground, he again looked up at Otto, who was now dangerously close to him. He studied the other hedgehog for a few moments before simply stepping to the left. In an instant, the red hedgehog/cannonball crashed through the ground, creating a round, _very_ deep hole. Lars gave the camera a cheeky grin and a peace sign before peering into the crater.

"'s alright?"

"Ugh…" Came the pained groan.

Again, Lars smiled at the camera as he gave it a thumbs-up. "'_s alright_."

There was another groan as a trembling hand rose out of the hole and grabbed the edge, followed by another shaking hand. The dizzy Rocket emerged a moment later. Grinning and clearly enjoying the current turn of events, the purple one once again turned to the camera as he got ready to run.

"Well folks, here we go again!" He winked before blasting off down the path.

"What the!.?" Otto blinked as he stood straight up again. Steam shot out of his helmet as his face seemed to go much more red than normal. "Get back here, Lars! We still have a fight to finish!.!.!"

He started off after his nemesis. A great gust followed him as he skated as fast as his clearly battered legs would allow. The battle was definitely starting to take its toll on him. He could barely manage to catch his breath, let alone skate and fight. But for some strange, unknown reason, Lars seemed to have plenty of stamina. In fact, it hardly looked like he even broke a sweat!

Ignoring his urgent need to rest, Otto caught up to Lars and continued the fight. They rammed into each other, kicked off trees, and exchanged blow after painful blow while blazing through the dirt path. Soon, they broke through the sea of green and found themselves in the valley Otto saw a few moments ago. They dashed towards the nearest rock formations and split up, Lars going to the left, Otto to the right.

As they climbed up the cliffs, they often jumped towards each other, meeting in the middle and landing a quick hit before returning to their rocks. They were two blurs of purple and red as they clashed back and forth. Their grunts echoed throughout the valley as they ascended higher and higher, fighting harder and tougher in the process.

They soon reached their respective peaks and stared the other down. They were both on opposite sides of the lake. Lars sneered at his opponent before jumping down the side of the cliff. Before he hit the rock face, he arched his back and rolled into a ball. Glaring at the other hedgehog, Otto imitated the action. They both barreled down the side of the cliffs, gaining speed as they neared what seemed to be ramps made of stone.

Both furries rolled up and off the ramps. Their torques sent them flying high above the lake towards each other. They soared through the air before meeting each other directly over the lake. They rammed into each other at full speed. Sparks shot up between them due to the intense friction. A few seconds passed before they pushed away from each other and fell towards the water. Lars was the first to unroll as he grabbed an emerald.

"Chaos Control!" He shouted as the jewel glimmered. He glowed a bright green and teleported so that he was above Otto, who had also unrolled. He interlocked both fists and bashed the younger hedgehog, sending him careening towards the water. But for some strange reason, Otto was smirking, despite his injuries.

"So _that's_ how he's warping all over the place…" He said with a snicker. "All ya need is a Chaos Emerald."

With that, he reached behind him and pulled out the red emerald he and his team found back at the beginning of their quest. Holding the jewel close to him, he took a deep breath and prepared himself.

"Chaos Control!"

"WHAT!.?.!" Lars bellowed, having heard the command.

Otto glowed a bright red and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The other hedgehog looked around franticly for his foe, but didn't see anything. In desperation, he held up his own emerald to avoid a potential strike.

"Chaos—"

°POW!.!.!°

Otto reappeared and gave him a powerful kick across the face! He again phased out of sight as Lars was sent spinning towards a nearby cliff. Before the violet one could hit it though, Otto appeared from below and punted him skywards like Lars did earlier. The taller hedgehog growled as he righted himself. His teeth were clenched in utter rage! He was pushed well past the boiling point!

"That's it!.!.! This ends now!.!.!" He roared as he gripped his emerald so hard, he would crush it had it been an ordinary jewel. "**CHAOS CONTROL!.!.!**"

Glaring at where his opponent was, Otto also used Chaos Control, disappearing from sight. Not even two seconds later, flashes of light were seen in the air as the two hedgehogs went back and forth using their emeralds. They both fought fiercely as they kicked, punched, bashed, and crashed all over the valley. Every time they connected, they were seen for half a second before warping at least a mile away. They took the battle to the ground, then to the sky, then to the different rock formations before gliding along the surface of the lake, ramming each other. They dematerialized again but never reappeared. One could only watch the battle by studying the environment.

Every so often, small craters would appear in the earth and cliff sides. Towers of water shot out of the lake and parted. Even the clouds themselves were reduced to Swiss cheese! And then they finally rematerialized, both glowing the colors of the Chaos Emeralds they were using; Lars a brilliant blue hue and Otto even redder than before. Both were panting as they stood on opposite rocks, regarding the other.

Fire blazed in their eyes as they gritted their teeth and shook violently. Lars looked positively livid! He mentally cursed the boy standing before him. The same thought buzzed in his mind like a swarm of African killer bees: How _dare_ Otto have a Chaos Emerald!.?.! Only _he_ was supposed to have all the power of the seven jewels, NO ONE ELSE!.!.! Lars had to get whatever emeralds he could if he had any hope of ruling as the best! That dreadlocked punk wasn't going to take this away from him! Not after how far he's traveled with his group!

"Alright Rocket Dork!" He shouted after five minutes of the staring contest passed. He held out his free hand. "Give me all the emeralds ya got and I _might_ let you live!"

"All my emeralds?" Otto blinked and scoffed. "You can forget it lame-o! They're staying with me! I found 'em fair and square!"

"I ain't playing this time!.!.!" Lars bellowed, his veins pulsing. "I'll crush ya if ya don't hand 'em over! Now gimme!"

"Dream on, Lars!"

"You're toast, Rocket Dork! Ya hear me!.? TOAST!.!.!"

"I'd like to see you try!.!.!"

"With pleasure!.!.!" The older one bent his legs and lunged. Otto also bounded towards him.

They were about to meet head-on in a grand display of power when suddenly, a stream of fire shot in-between them!

"Huh?.?.?" Both combatants gasped and looked towards where the shot came from.

They saw Pi and Twister fighting on a nearby cliff. The robot was shooting flames from his hands at the poor echidna, who looked scorched from head to toe. Despite this, he was weaving around the attacks valiantly. After dodging the metal one's latest attack, he punched the ground hard, creating strong tremors that left the robot temporarily immobilized. Taking advantage of this, he ran forward and repeatedly slammed his flame-engulfed fists into Pi's metal hide. The bot was quickly weakening due to the extreme heat!

"Hey Pi, fight back already ya tin dork!" Lars ordered.

"Hey!.!.!" Otto snapped, rolling into a ball. He completely caught the other boy off guard with his homing attack. Lars was pushed back towards the muscles of the groups. The hedgehog smirked as he thought of a plan to wrap this up.

"Pi! Get up here!" He told the robot. Pi looked up and made his eyes flash in understanding.

"_Acknowledged._" He punched Twister out of the way and activated his rockets, allowing him to hover towards his leader. Twister looked up and gulped when he realized what was coming.

"Oh man… What am I gonna do!.?"

"Twist!" The echidna looked to the left and saw Otto falling towards him. "Catch me and get ready to finish this!" He rolled into a ball as Twister nodded.

"Got it, dude!"

Both power members caught their respective leader and targeted each other. Pi's systems locked onto Twister almost instantly while the echidna sized up the robot. Both of them seemed intent on hitting their opponent, as did Otto and Lars. The hedgehogs sorely wanted to end this battle. The whole thing had to have been going on for at least an hour. The older leader was starting to feel the effects of the fight at last. Using Chaos Control so much in one time can really take it out of you, especially if you're new to the technique. Case in point, Otto was panting heavily as he waited for his best bro to launch him.

Both of the boys were trying desperately to catch their breath. Sweat fell in sheets not only from the energy they've used up til now, but because of the heat and humidity of the Everglades. They had to finish this as fast as possible before they pass out from heat exhaustion! The worst part of it all was that this wasn't even the main conflict. They groaned miserably when they realized they _still_ had to continue their hunt for Dr. Coconutman after this was all over with. Both grinned however when they figured that they ought to _thank_ the crazy old coot. After all, had it not been for all the chaos he's caused, Ocean Shores' two biggest rivals wouldn't be going head to head. All the insults, challenges, and past conflicts had led up to this decisive showdown. Once and for all, they were going to find out just who is the best!

"_Preparing to fire._" Pi told his leader.

"It's about time!" Lars snapped. "We didn't have to go through those last two paragraphs ya know!"

"Get ready, Ottoman!" Twister shouted as he reared back the arm holding his friend.

"Let's do this already!" Otto commanded impatiently.

"_Ready…_" Pi started as he charged energy into his right arm. Lars felt a great heat behind him as he waited to be launched.

"Aim…" Twister continued as his flame ring glowed an angry red. Otto began to sweat even more as he felt the flames encircle his body, turning him to a weapon capable of great damage. Both echidna and robot narrowed their eyes as they made their final preparations. They only had one shot and they couldn't afford to mess it up!

"FIRE!.!.!" They both roared.

Pi shot his leader towards Twister, who then flung Otto at him. The two hedgehogs became two intense fireballs as they sailed towards each other. To the immense surprise of Twister and Pi, the two leaders flew _past_ each other and headed towards them! The powerhouses of the teams tried to dodge the attacks, but they were moving too slow. Before they knew it, Otto rammed into Pi while Lars tackled Twister! Both the robot and echidna were singed and thrown backwards as a result. Twister skidded along the edge of the cliff while Pi crashed into the ground. The two hedgehogs landed on the ground and skated off back into the forest, leaving their teammates behind.

"Ugh… What a rush…" The echidna moaned, sitting up. He blinked and looked around for his best bro, but he was gone. He put on a strange look as he scratched the back of his head. "What was that all about?"

He didn't have much time to think about it for a large shadow loomed overhead. He looked up and just barely saw Pi's metallic fists before he was knocked out.

"_Mission_ _accomplished._" The automaton droned as he picked up Twister's limp body and carried him off.

Meanwhile, two purple and red streaks of light were bouncing through the forest at near mach speeds. The hedgehogs rammed and crashed into each other and, more than often, the various trees and rocks strewn all around them. Both furries were giving it their all! They knew perfectly well that this fight was about to end. A victor would soon be decided. The question was who will it be?

Otto skated as quickly as possible to put some distance between him and Lars, but the older hedgehog had other plans. He smirked evilly as he pulled out one of his emeralds.

"Chaos Control!" He shouted just before disappearing in a flash.

What he didn't notice though was that the crimson one had his own smirk on his face.

'_Heh fell for it._' He thought as he continued moving.

A few moments later, Lars reappeared just meters from Otto! The courageous boy didn't look the least bit frightened though and he proved this by running head on towards Lars instead of stopping like the purple hedgehog intended. The mischievous boy's eyes widened just before he gave a rather girly scream and ducked. Otto grinned at this opportunity and grabbed one of his Chaos Emeralds.

"Chaos Control!" He roared, disappearing just inches away from Lars' face. Surprised at having heard the command, Lars put his hands down and looked around frantically for his rival.

"Oh great! Where'd that little shrimp go _now_!.?" He looked around his surroundings again, only to turn up empty handed. He clenched his fists and threw his hands up in anger. "Come out you little scaredy baby!"

"Ok, if you insist!" Otto's voice snickered as the sound of rustling leaves was heard.

"What the!.?" Lars looked up as he noticed a shadow looming above him. He gasped when he saw Otto coming towards him in a speedy homing attack! There wasn't enough time for the violet one to move.

°WHAM!.!.!°

Otto collided into his face at top speed! The red skater dumped salt into Lars' wound by spinning rapidly while _still_ on his face! Lars screamed in pain as the attack continued for a bit before Otto bounced off, then kicked him as hard as he possibly could. Due to his speed, the older boy was sent flying right into a nearby tree! A cloud of dust rose up as the oak was knocked over.

Otto landed and got into a defensive stance as he waited for the dust to settle. He didn't have to wait long though for all of the dust was blown away. And standing in the middle of the debris was Lars, who looked completely livid, not to mention totally different. For one thing, his entire body was glowing a deep, blood-like red. His eyes, which transfixed Otto with a dark, deathly glare, were also aglow. His teeth were gritted as he growled dangerously. His right hand was clutching the blue Chaos Emerald so tight, his veins could be seen pulsing. Small sparks of energy seemed to be emanating from both the jewel and his hand.

The already humid air was getting steadily hotter and drier the longer Lars seethed. His body glowed brighter and brighter as his breathing grew faster and more ragged with each passing second. Otto's eyes widened behind his sunglasses as his face paled. Sweat fell down his now fear-filled face. It seemed as if the bravado and unnerving confidence he had were being washed away as the terrible creature in front of him continued to get madder and madder. The air grew even hotter and more suffocating the longer Otto stood there. He was finding it hard to breathe due to Lars' terrible anger.

"Ugh!" He grunted as he wiped sweat off his face. He then said through his own gritted teeth, "He must be using the emerald's power to charge up some kinda attack! I gotta get outta here!"

He took a single step back when the enraged hedgehog shot his head up. His piercing red gaze stopped Otto dead cold.

"_No…_" Lars said with a low, sinister demonic voice. "_You will not retreat…_"

"Ugh… Uhhh!" The shorter leader made noises of urgency as he tried to escape the paralyzing glare his opponent had him in. There was nothing he could do, however. It was over. By now, Lars' body was covered in an almost blinding aura.

"_Now you will pay, fool!_" He shouted, his voice dripping venom. If Otto could move, he'd be trembling from all the power his rival seemed to suddenly obtain. The older hedgehog scrunched up his body as the aura grew just a bit brighter and warmer.

'_It's over!_' The young hero screamed in his mind.

Lightning shot out of Lars' body as he prepared to finally unleash all of his pent-up rage and energy on the boy standing in front of him, paralyzed with fear.

"_Chaos…_" He began, targeting Otto. "**_BLAST!.!.!_**"

Lars jumped up and released the sphere of energy surrounding his body in one massive shockwave that went in all directions! The attack leveled the forest around him, not to mention throw Otto for a loop. The younger hedgehog screamed in pain as the burning light engulfed him. He tried to resist it for as long as possible, but due to his injuries, he didn't last long. Scorched and still screaming, he was blasted clear across the forest! When Lars regained his breath, he smirked evilly and skated after his rival.

"Time to get my emeralds."

Meanwhile…

"Ugh! Sammy's cute, but he really needs to lay off the hula burgers!" Reggie grunted as she continued to carry her unconscious crush through the forest. The fox was happily snoring in the bat's arms, spouting some hard to understand gibberish as he snuggled in closer. Reggie found herself blushing profusely as she walked through the peaceful woods. She suppressed a grin as she looked around.

Soon, her efforts to protect her best friend paid off when she spotted a large rock several feet ahead. It was covered in moss and stood against a tree, providing some excellent shade. Letting her grin show, she walked towards the rock. When she arrived, she knelt down and prepared to set Sam against it when the kitsune started to stir.

"Uhhh… Wha…?" He sputtered as his eyes fluttered open. When his eyes focused and got used to the light, he cringed at the sight of the girl. "Reggie!.? Uh-oh!"

He tried to get away, but the bat was faster. She grabbed Sam's face with both hands and leaned forward with her lips puckered. For the second time that day, the two furries' lips connected in a fleeting kiss. When they broke away, the poor over-stimulated fox blushed darkly and bubbled in satisfaction.

"Garsh... I like to kiss the pretty ladies… Heh, heh…" He chuckled goofily before again losing consciousness.

Biting her lips to avoid giggling at that, Reggie gently laid him beside the rock. She smiled warmly at him as she put down his ruffled fur motherly. She was about to give him one last kiss when she heard her brother screaming at the top of his lungs. The bat immediately backed away and looked around in alarm.

"They must be close. I better hide!"

She stood up, took one last longing look at Sam, and jumped into the nearby bushes. And not too soon for Otto crashed right into the rock seconds later! When the dust settled, the crimson hedgehog slumped against it and wound up right next to Sam. His eyes were spinning as he groaned dizzily. Reggie gasped at the sight. She was about to run over to see if her sibling was alright when heavy stomping was heard. The bat shrunk back into the bushes in time to see Pi walk into the area, carrying Twister over his shoulder. The echidna was out cold as the robot slammed him right next to his leader.

"_Waiting for orders…_" He droned as he stood guard over the trio. Soon, Lars joined him and snickered.

"Heh, heh, heh…" He rubbed his hands evilly. "We won! Not that I thought we'd lose."

"_Yes._"

"Woah…" Lars whistled a tone of surprise. "Rocket Dork's sister whomped the Squid big time." He looked around. "Hey, where is she?"

"_The loudmouth bat's location is unknown…_" Pi answered. Reggie popped a vein and went red as she shook in anger.

"Hmph!" The hedgehog crossed his arms. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. C'mon Pi!" He walked forward, punching his hand. "Let's get my prize."

"_Understood._" The robot nodded, following his leader.

'_His prize? What's he talking about?_' Reggie wondered. She had no idea Otto was carrying a couple of Chaos Emeralds. Her eyes widened as a thought came to her. '_He's not thinking about **attacking** them, is he!.? Not when they're already beaten!_' She clenched a fist at this. '_There's no way I'm letting him lay a hand on my Sammy!_' She smirked mischievously as she stuck her foot out of the bush. A moment later, Lars bumped right into it, causing him to trip and get mud in his face!

"Argh!" He shouted, spitting out the horrible tasting substance. "Ok, what tripped me!.? Grrr…!"

Reggie put both hands in front of her mouth to avoid getting caught. When she got over the moment, she looked up and noticed that Pi was still moving. An evil sneer crossed her features as she again stuck her foot out. The robot wound up hitting it and he too began to fall.

"Ugh! Now I gotta go take a shower!" The hedgehog moaned in dismay. "Just as soon as I get those—Huh?.?.?" He stopped when he noticed a large shadow above him.

"_Danger!_" The electronic voice was heard. Pupils shrinking and teeth clenched in fear, Lars turned just in time to see Pi falling towards him! The boy yelped and scrambled to get away! But alas, it was too late…

°CRASH!.!.!°

The Everglades shook and trembled from the great force. Birds that were perched in however few trees that were left flew away in fright. As the ground rumbled, Team Rocket came to and looked at the two opposing team members. Their eyes were wide in surprise. When the shaking ceased, Pi stood up, revealing Lars, who was as flat as a piece of paper. The poor hedgehog had swirls for eyes as he groaned in misery.

"Ok, ok…!" He croaked, his lungs crushed along with the rest of his body. "I give! Run away!"

"_Acknowledged._" The automaton saluted before picking up the incapacitated leader. He then rolled up Lars like he was a life sized poster and held him under his right arm. He turned, activated his rear-end rockets, and hovered off, calling for Reggie. The trio sweatdropped and blinked after them.

"…Well, _that_ was weird…" Otto spoke after a few seconds of silence.

"No kidding." Sam added, nodding.

"Ugh… My head hurts…" Twister groaned, holding his forehead in pain. The other two boys sighed exasperatedly.

Then Reggie walked out of the bush. Sam's eyes widened as his face turned bright red. He ducked behind Otto, who glared at his sister. Both he and Twister got into fighting poses. The bat rolled her eyes and put her hands up.

"Look, I don't wanna fight you guys. I never wanted to in the first place." She was looking at the fox when she said that last part. Sammy looked to the side as his blush got darker. Otto kept his guard up for a moment before relaxing and crossing his arms.

"Well, what're ya doing with Lars?"

"Like I said, it's a long story. Sammy should fill ya in." She answered with a wink before turning. "I'll see you guys later. Just be careful out there, ok? Ya never know what Merv will do next. Later!" She bent her legs and took off into the sky after her teammates. Otto and Twister looked at each other with perplexed looks before turning to Sam.

"Sammy, what did she mean?" The former asked. The fox began to sweat profusely as he turned towards his leader.

"We-we-well you see…" He stuttered. He looked around for any sort of alibi when he found something truly great! "Guys! I found the way out of here! Look!"

He pointed ahead towards what looked like a stretch of road. Dozens of cars were traveling back and forth.

"Alright Squid!" Twister cheered. "Let's go! I'm so hungry!" He happily skated towards civilization, followed by Sam, who was clearly anxious to get away from Otto as fast as possible. He was almost out when…

"Sam…" Otto growled out. "What did she tell you?"

Sam gulped frightfully. He didn't need to turn around to know that the hedgehog was boring holes into his skull with his eyes. His knees shook as he thought about what Otto would do if he found out Reggie kissed him!

"It was nothing Otto! Quit asking! Ahhhhhh!.!.!" He screamed, running off.

"Hey! Get back here, Squid!" Otto ordered, chasing after him.

And so, our heroes continued onward. Who knows what other surprises await them!.? Find out next time!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Post-chapter Conversation

The scene opened in a near pitch black abyss. The darkness seemed to go on for miles, engulfing nearly everything. The only light in the area came from the many lampposts illuminating the gigantic water slide. Three figures were seen zooming by at amazing speeds. The camera zoomed in to show a screaming Izzy. His arms and legs were flailing wildly for something to hang on as he continued sliding on his butt. Meanwhile, Tux and Edo slid close behind him on their bellies like torpedoes. They kept completely serious looks on their faces the whole time. It was almost as if to them, belly sliding was not just great fun, but an art that required great concentration.

During their descent into darkness, the hedgehog and penguins faced many obstacles. Tight turns, which Izzy crashed into the majority of time while the babies took them with ease; giant loops, in which the "mother" screamed as he went up, through a couple of speed boosts, and over while the chicks merely laughed due to being tickled by the machines; steep free falls, in which Izzy shrieked in terror while Tux and Edo performed cute flips and twirls—and even flapped their flippers like wings!—before landing on a new piece of slide.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!.!.! How much longer before this ends!.?.! YEOW!.!.!" He cried, grabbing his left arm after hitting the wall during a turn. The babies simply adjusted the angle of their flippers to get around the curve. They moved with such grace and machine-like perfection, you'd think they were members of an Olympic bobsledding team in a past life!

The cavernous hole filled with more of the boy's screams as the time passed.

"WOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHH!.!.!" was heard when he was sent through a dangerous forward spiral.

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" was heard when he was thrown up into the air onto a new part of slide, hit a speed boost, and sent up a steep incline that went into a loop and dipped sharply.

"OFFF!.!.! OWWW!.!.! ACK!.!.!" He grunted as his body bounced off numerous curves like a pinball.

"OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!.!.!" He shouted as he fought to stay on the slide when it spiraled into a high speed corkscrew. Naturally, the babies moved their bodies inwards effortlessly and without a squawk of complaint. Soon, the corkscrew ended and the slide straightened out again. Unfortunately, the ride wasn't over yet.

"Aw man… YA GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!.!.!" was Izzy's latest protest when he saw the complicated-looking obstacle ahead.

It was another loop, but this one was much, much bigger. Also, it consisted of a combination of everything he, Tux, and Edo faced already. It started off with a jump up to a small loop then went into an upwards corkscrew, then up a ninety degree angle to the top of the loop, a horizontal corkscrew. It would've been the end for the trio if it wasn't for the speed boosts that were strategically placed all over the obstacle. Poor Izzy screamed his head off as he was sent careening upside down, then right side up, then upside down again. The babies, meanwhile, offered joyful chirps as they slid through that part and went downwards again.

They went straight down for a few seconds before freefalling a good twenty feet. Again, Izzy did his best impression of Sam while the babies performed a quick trick before landing on the slide. They went through another corkscrew and small loop before going along straight again. The slide went on uneventfully, giving the "mother" some time to catch his breath and allow his rapidly beating heart to recover. Once his body relaxed, he was able to think clearly.

"Whew!" The hedgehog breathed, wiping his incredibly moist head. "I can't believe I actually got through that…" He looked around himself. There didn't seem to be anymore obstacles ahead. For the first time since he woke up today—or ever if you really think about it…—he put on a calm, peaceful look.

"Hmmm… I'm probably gonna hate myself in a few seconds for saying this, but I think the worst is over." He looked back at the babies and grinned. "I dunno how you two wound up down here, but at least it's smooth sailing from here on out."

"Cheep, cheep!" Tux and Edo chirped happily, although there was a strange tone of boredom and disappointment in their tiny voices.

Suddenly, the slide began to dip! Everything froze as Izzy looked down. There were many dips and rises along the way to the bottom. The hedgehog sweatdropped and faced the camera with a deeply irritated look.

"I just _had_ to open my big mouth."

Then they all fell. While in the air, the chicks flipped and wound up on their backs, allowing them to clap and giggle as the water tickled them. Izzy, meanwhile, screamed his head off as the slide dipped and bobbed. The hedgehog started to turn green in the face after the third or fourth fall.

"Ugh… I shouldn't have had that ice cream…" He moaned, slapping his hand over his mouth.

Then, the whole area lit up in a multitude of colors thanks to the fireworks launchers on both sides of the slide. The rockets flew high into the abyss before exploding in a beautiful burst of lights. Izzy was too scared to enjoy the show, thinking that he was finally transported to the Pokémon dimension. The babies though were squawking in pure joy while clapping with even more enthusiasm.

Shortly after, the slide finally ended in a massive freefall. Forgetting his sickness and fright, he flailed his arms and legs while screaming like a maniac. Tux and Edo cheered and were chirping animatedly to each other about what were their favorite parts of the ride. Soon, Izzy landed in a large pool. After opening his eyes and looking around himself, he swam up to the surface. He took a huge gulp of air and slapped the water out of his ears. The liquid flowed out like two fountains. When he recovered, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Heh, that wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it'd be."

°DOUBLE CRASH!.!.!°

One right after the other, Tux and Edo landed on his head and bounced into the pool. The hedgehog's eyes were replaced by two swirls as he fell backwards.

"Spoke too soon again…" He got out before he wound up underwater.

Luckily, the babies dove down and pulled him to the edge of the pool. Everybody climbed out and shook themselves to get dried. While the penguins adjusted their winter caps, Izzy, walked a few feet forward, studying the environment. There really wasn't much to see. Aside from the lampposts by the pool and the fireworks still going off high above them, it was completely pitch black. After going through that massive water slide, he wasn't sure whether he was inside or outside. That ride really messed with his senses. He looked back at the pool, where Tux and Edo had dove back in and were doing the backstroke. It turned out that it wasn't a pool, but rather a small lake. The hedgehog scratched his head in confusion.

"So I guess I'm in the Pokémon dimension…" He looked down and blinked at his still purple, slightly moist, and bare body. "But why am I still a hedgehog? Shouldn't I have been turned back into a human?" He growled as he clenched his fist. "If I'm still a furry, I wasn't sent to my original dimension… Then what's going on here!.?.!"

He shook in anger and confusion for a few moments before he suddenly heard something. Someone or some_thing_ was lurking in the shadows. Izzy's ears picked up the unmistakable sound of light footsteps. He was able to discern two other forms in the immediate area. Of course, due to the lack of light, he couldn't figure out what they were. He reached for his mallet and then groaned when he realized he still didn't get it back from me.

"Figures I'd be in grave danger the one time I _don't_ have my hammer with me…" He sighed.

Making sure that the babies were still in the lake, and discovering that they were inside a cave when he noticed the stony ground on the shore, the hedgehog turned and slowly walked away from the light. His heart was beating almost as fast as it was when he was going down the water slide. Sweat fell down his face in sheets as it got steadily darker. He gulped as he tried to figure out what the creatures were. He kept looking in every direction he heard the soft footsteps coming from.

'_Maybe they **are** pokémon…_' He contemplated. '_That would mean that I **was** sent back home, but I wasn't changed back into a human._' He gritted his teeth at the thought. '_Just great… If I make it outta here alive, I'll be the target of every trainer around. They'll try to catch me! After all, who in this dimension has seen a six foot tall anthromorphic hedgehog!.?.!_'

Soon, he got so far that he couldn't see the light coming from the lamps by the lake anymore. He was completely covered in darkness. Izzy grew tenser as he continued walking, albeit slower than before. He didn't want to trip over something.

"Man… Where are these things…?" He asked with a hint of fright in his voice. "I can't see an inch in front of my—AHHHH!.!.!" He cried in shock when he felt something furry in front of his face. He instantly froze and kept his breathing low, lest he provoked the monsters stalking him. Thankfully, nothing appeared to attack him. He stood perfectly still for a few moments before relaxing.

"Whew…" He let out the breath he was holding. "That was close…" He then stroked his chin. "Hmmm…" He reached ahead and felt the hairy strip he bumped into before. "It feels like some kinda rope. Too thin to climb up though…"

He continued studying the strange rope. Hmmm… To add a little hint of violence and comedy to this already funny and somewhat violent situation, let's turn on the night vision cameras we set up in advance.

°Click!°

Everything in the area was bathed in a neon green glow. We can see Tux and Edo splashing and chasing each other around the lake in the background and Izzy inspecting the rope, which was strangely shaped like a lightning bolt. It was hanging off a nearby ledge. A closer look showed that it was attached to something, a strange ball of fur. Putting the camera back into normal mode allowed us to see that the bundle of fluff was yellow and had brown strips going along its back. There was also a pair of pointy ears that had black tips. Said ears twitched as it felt the hedgehog playing with its tail.

"Pi…?" The mouse stirred, raising its head sleepily. It opened its tiny eyes and blinked, trying to remember what it was supposed to be doing. It had been waiting for Izzy to arrive all day and apparently dozed off.

"I wonder what's a rope doing in here. Like I said, it's too thin for me to climb…" He kept feeling around, trying to figure out its purpose.

Up above, the mysterious mouse's eyes were wide open, being fully aware of its surroundings. Though, it couldn't help noticing the feeling of someone playing with its tail. It actually felt good… In fact…

"Pi, pi, pi!.!.!" It laughed, causing it to stifle itself as Izzy kept on messing with it. The creature shuffled its hind legs and rolled around its little alcove in pure merriment.

"I got it!" The furry shouted triumphantly after a few minutes of tickling the mouse. "This must be a switch for an overhead lamp to light up the caves. Finally, some light!"

With that uncharacteristic spark of stupidity, he tugged on the tail. The creature above yelped in pain as it was forced to the floor. Izzy scratched his head in confusion when there was no light.

"What the…" He pulled it again.

"Ka!" The mouse cried again, nearly falling off the ledge. The hedgehog looked around for the source of the sound. Not finding anything and shrugging, he continued to pull the poor animal's tail.

"Ugh! What… is taking…so…long…to get this…thing…turned…on!.?.!" He roared, pulling the "rope" hard between words. "I…gotta…reveal those…things that are…stalking…me and my…chicks!.!.!"

Soon, the abused creature above had enough of this. Its red cheeks sparked with electricity as it charged energy into its body.

"PiiikaaaCHUUUUUUUUUUUU!.!.!"

°BZZZZZZZZZZTPT!.!.!°

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!.!.!" Izzy screamed as the electricity flowed through his body, burning every single inch. It felt about ten times worse by the fact that he was still wet from going down the water slide. His body glowed yellow whilst he tried to free himself. His hand was stuck to the pokémon due to its static electricity. The furry's limbs flailed in random directions as the attack continued.

"Cheep?" Tux and Edo chirped, pausing from their game to see what was making their "mother" shout. They were dazzled by the light show in the darkness. "Cheep, cheep!.!.!" They cheered while clapping in sheer enjoyment.

A minute or so passed before the massive attack ended. Izzy, burned, crackling with electricity, and blinking dazedly, coughed up a cloud of black smoke as he let go of the mouse. His legs wobbled a bit before giving out on him. He wound up face first on the floor shortly after. He groaned as he looked up.

"Ugh… Well, at least I got my light…" He blinked. "Wha…?"

In front of him were two pairs of jewels in front of him. Or at least they _looked_ like jewels. The pair on the left was a greenish jade while the one on the right was a yellowish amber. Instantly, the color from the hedgehog's face drained when he noticed the jewels drawing closer.

"Th-those aren't jewels! They're _eyes_!.!.!"

He tried to get up to make a run for it, but Pikachu's attack left him with temporary paralysis. His entire body was frozen! Soon, the owners of the eyes were nearly on top of him! Izzy closed his own eyes shut and yelped, bracing himself.

But no pain came. Instead, he felt two furry things rub against him. He squeezed his eyes tighter and shuddered in fright.

"Oh man… Th-th-this is it…" He stuttered.

He then felt one of the creatures nuzzle its head against his own before feeling its hairy tongue lick his cheek.

"Meow?" The feminine voice mewed.

"What the…?" Izzy's eyes opened wide when he recognized the voice. He noticed that the area was suddenly bright, revealing the cave walls. He raised his head and saw a meowth sitting in front of him. A bigger cat was standing behind the pokémon. The hedgehog immediately recognized the feline as Keoni. But the pokémon…

"S-Sadie?.?.? I-is that really you?.?.?"

"MEOWTH!.!.!" The cat grinned as she ran and tackled him. She hit him so hard, he round up on his back. He laughed uncontrollably as Sadie licked and tickled him. He regained the use of his limbs, allowing him to embrace the pokémon. Sadie purred and rubbed her head against his lovingly.

"Oh Sadie! I missed you so much!" Izzy shouted gleefully as he pet her. "I never thought I'd see you again!.!.!"

"Meow, meow!.!.!" She cried, nuzzling into his chest. The hedgehog smiled softly as he continued petting her. A quizzical look came over him then.

"…But how did you get here?" He then looked at the other cat, who was also rubbing against him. "What's going on here, Keoni?" He shuddered and turned red when he licked the side of his face. "H-h-hey! Cut it out! I'm confused enough as it is!"

"Reow?" Sadie tilted her head, and then glowered at Keoni as he helped Izzy to his feet. She dropped the resentful gaze as her master put her in a more comfortable position and purred. She _did_ take a pause to stick her tongue out at the anthromorph, making him glare at her.

"Ahem?" Izzy cleared his throat, making the cats turn away from their…erm…competition. They both faced him with huge eyes full of love and complete obedience. He sweatdropped at this. "Erm… Mind telling me what the deal is?"

°Ding!°

Izzy, Sadie, and Keoni turned to the right, where they saw the elevator doors opened. All of us inside tumbled out in a massive dust cloud. All three of them sweatdropped at the sounds of fighting and yelling. It soon cleared up, revealing Iggy, Rod, Otto, Reggie, Sam, Twister, and myself lying in a heap of tangled bodies. While the Ozone Street Regulars and I were groaning and covered in bruises, Iggy and Rod, who were sitting on top of us, were unharmed. I moaned painfully as I looked up at the little hedgehog.

"Ugh… You just _had_ to mention that kissing scene…"

"Well yeah!" Iggy grinned innocently. "It was too quiet in there and I really wanted to know what everybody thought about it!"

"Wait until I get you, Squid…" Otto was heard growling underneath me. Sam whimpered, causing Twister (who was between Otto and Sam) and Reggie (who was on the bottom of the pile) to roll their eyes. I slapped my head in irritation before glowering at Iggy, who chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey look!" Rod called, pointing ahead. All of us followed his finger and snickered at the scene before us.

Izzy was standing frozen in defeat and mild shock. Tears of embarrassment fell down his sullen and red face in cascades. Sadie and Keoni were showing their affection for the hedgehog in an attempt to vie for his attention. The meowth was rubbing against his face while playfully wrapping her tail around his neck like a scarf. The bigger cat, on the other hand, was mewing and purring while rubbing against his legs. Smirking at the apparent "battle," we untangled ourselves and made our way to them.

"What…in…the…world…is…going…on?.?.?" Izzy asked through clenched teeth. It was clear he was trying to avoid losing it…or laugh from being tickled by the cats' fur. One of the two. I cleared my throat to avoid laughing as I prepared to speak.

"I thought ya would've figured it out by now. We noticed how much you missed Sadie."

"Yeah! You were so lonely without your pretty kitty!" Iggy chimed in. "It was so gross to hear ya cry!"

"You…cried?.?.?" Otto questioned, stifling his laughter. Twister openly laughed at the embarrassed, confused, and mad (and getting madder by the second!) furry. Reggie glowered at them and snuck up on them.

°WHAM!.!.!°

"Yeow!" Both boys cried, grabbing their heads. They both turned to the bat. "What'd ya do that for!.?.!"

She simply fixed them with a dark glare, making them grab onto each other in fright. Wide-eyed and blue in the face, Iggy, Rod, and I flinched at the scene.

"Sh-sh-she scares me sometimes…" The hyper hedgehog shuddered.

The chipmunk nodded in agreement. "You _never_ want to make her mad…"

"Y-y-yeah…" I added.

Then Reggie turned to us with a sugary sweet smile before dragging Otto and Twister away. We cautiously followed her with our eyes as she laid them next to a pillar. Of course, she did so with a swift kick… We sighed at the end of that little moment of horror before turning our attention back to Izzy. We gasped at the new sight.

It seemed that during those last few minutes in insanity, Keoni and Sadie had changed tactics. Now they were offering the freaked out hedgehog gifts! First the purple feline offered a modest box of chocolates. Poor Izzy accepted the box with an unblinking stare. That was when Sadie presented him with a huge, heart shaped box! The hedgehog began to struggle as he took the box. Growling, Keoni ran off camera and came back with a white gift box wrapped in a red bow. Hissing, Sadie did the same thing, coming back with a bigger box!

The felines went back and forth, trading blows—erm…presents. The pile around the stressed furry got bigger and bigger! Keoni and Sadie kept trying to buy Izzy's love with jewelry, games upon games, tons of powerful-looking computers, deeds to fantastic houses, and even new expensive skateboards, roller blades, surfboards, snowboards, and other assorted extreme sports gear. Otto and Twister, who had recovered, gaped and drooled at the sight of the amazing gear. Sam was drooling at the electronics.

Meanwhile, the cats resorted to taking advantage of the old saying, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach." They brought Izzy all sorts of gourmet food. From stuffed flounder to spaghetti to sushi, they brought him meals from all over the world! While they were going back and forth, Tux and Edo waddled onto the scene, still dripping slightly from their swim. They took one look at all the tasty seafood dishes, rubbed their eyes, saw that they were real, and jumped for joy. They ran at top speed and began to feast on the goodies. Everyone but the cats sweatdropped at this.

"Heh, heh… Guess growing penguins gotta eat…" I offered.

"Aw! They look so happy!" Iggy shouted, clapping.

"Yeah, but Izzy still looks lost." Rod pointed out. He turned to me. "Think we should help him out?"

"We should." I agreed, nodding. "But I wanna see how far they'll go first."

Keoni and Sadie then started to grab works of art to appease to the dark hedgehog. The Venus De Milo, the Thinker, the Mona Lisa, Washington Crossing the Delaware! Even a piece of the _Sistine Chapel's ceiling_!.!.! All of us on the side lines stared in disbelief as we watched Keoni bring it in on a fork lift.

"Anything for Izzy!" We heard him shout.

Finally, when the two ran out of ideas on what to give the hedgehog, they both raced back up to the surface, Sadie using the service elevator and Keoni using the nearby stairs. When they got back inside the main set, they both dashed out at lightning speed and raced to opposite ends of the studio. There, they each grabbed a jackhammer and hardhat. Then, they both dug at least twenty feet before leaping out of the holes, both holding a package of some sort. Keoni's was wrapped in red paper with his face pictured all over it. Sadie's looked the same, except it was blue.

Using the same amazing speed, they both returned to the catacombs and ran up to Izzy, who had spent those last few seconds tearing out his quills. The babies were watching him in confusion while wiping their messy beaks to get rid of the scraps from all that food. The two cats kneeled before him and presented their gifts. I gasped in horror when I noticed what they were about to give him.

"Oh crap!.!.!" I shouted, stepped back. Everyone else watching gave me a strange look. "Not _those_!.!.!"

"What's wrong with those gifts?" Rod asked curiously.

"Don't you know what's in there!.?.!" I exclaimed to the group. Everybody shook their heads, causing me to fall over. I got up and answered, "Those are the most dangerous things in this dimension!"

Everyone gasped. "You don't mean…!.?.!"

We turned nervously towards Izzy who was in the process of opening Keoni's gift. He had just gotten the paper ripped off, revealing a plain white box. He lifted the top off and grinned when he saw…

"Woah! My battlechips! Awesome!" He hung the pouch from his hips and then stroked the underside of Keoni's chin. The violet feline purred contently, making Sadie hiss in pure fury. Her fur was also standing on end. It was clear she took after her master in terms of anger problems. She bumped her head against Izzy's leg to get some attention.

"Hmmm? Oh, don't worry Sadie! I didn't forget about you, my dear! Let's see what ya got!"

"Unfortunately, _we_ already know what she got!" Sam shouted, shuddering as his rival took the package from the meowth. Sadie meowed happily, causing Keoni to do the exact same thing she was doing earlier. Sadie noticed this and hissed right back at him. Both rivals glared at each other, threatening to claw the other, until…

"Alright! You guys found my mallet and battlechips!.!.!" Izzy cheered.

Keoni and Sadie turned from their staring contest to see the hedgehog take a few practice swings, then insert a chip into his weapon. It transformed into a handheld cannon, which he fired at a nearby column, knocking it over almost instantly. Tux and Edo clapped at the performance as everyone on the sidelines, except for Rod, gulped and shuddered. The hedgehog then knelt and hugged both cats with teary eyes.

"Awww! You guys didn't have to get me all this stuff!" He said, rubbing his own face against theirs. Both of them purred and rubbed right back, despite the fact their opponent was getting the same treatment. "All I needed were my _toys_…" He growled out as he stood, glaring at all of us.

"Heh, no prob, brah! It was my pleasure!" Keoni replied cheerfully.

"Meow, meow!" Sadie added with a toothy grin.

"Now then…" The hedgehog started, lightly pounding his hand as he stepped towards us. "Who's gonna start talking?"

The group, aside from Rod (who didn't seem to be threatened at all!) gulped at the horrible sight. Feeling brave, I stepped forward, clearing my throat.

"It's as we said, we noticed that you missed Sadie, so we decided to bring her back permanently."

"Meow?.?.?" The cat in question asked excitedly. Iggy stepped up and nodded joyfully.

"That's right! You get to stay with us forever!"

"So come 'ere and sign your contract!" I said pulling out a contract and ink pad like the ones I presented to Tux and Edo earlier. I knelt and held the open pad and paper to her.

"Meowth!.!.!" Sadie cried happily.

She ran forward past Izzy and skidded to a stop in front of me. She pressed a paw to the pad and applied it to the bottom of the contract. With a huge grin, she ran back to her trainer and hugged him in joy. Like with Iggy and the babies before, the older hedgehog had paw prints all over him. When she was done with this latest shower of affection, she sat on Izzy's shoulder to watch the scene.

"Who was the one responsible for this?" He demanded. I smirked as I pointed to Sam and Rod. The kitsune stepped up to the chipmunk and put a hand on his shoulder. Both of them gave the surprised hedgehog a thumbs-up.

"Why these two of course!" I answered. "They were more than happy to help me out with this surprise! If it wasn't for them, the Wheel of Plotlines would've never been repaired!"

Izzy gaped in disbelief. Tears came to eyes as he tried to make since of this. "You m-m-mean _you_ actually helped me get my dear Sadie back?.?.?" Sam nodded. "After everything I did to you?"

"Well, I didn't do it for free, you know." The fox replied, crossing his arms.

"Pika!" The voice of Pikachu was heard. The mouse jumped from its hiding place and ran up to Sam. When it reached him, it jumped and climbed up his shoulder.

"I-I don't know what to say…" Izzy said shakily.

"How about thanks!.?" Otto shouted at him. The hedgehog nodded and sniffled as he walked up to Sam and Rod. In a move that shocked all of us, he embraced both of them in pure happiness!

"Thank you, thank you!.!.!" He cried, letting his tears fall. Sweatdropping, Rod patted his back.

"No worries, dude! It was fun to work on it!" He said with a bright smile.

"Ugh! Y-yeah!" Sam added, clearly embarrassed at his rival's sudden change in attitude. "That machine is amazing! …Uhhh, could you let us go now?"

Izzy slowly released them and knelt on the floor, trying to compose himself. He was still crying tears of guilt as Sadie patted his back, trying to console him. He then sniffled as he looked up at the fox.

"From now on, things are gonna change! I'll treat you with the respect you deserve! It'll take a long time to repay you for your kindness, but can you ever forgive me!.?"

Sam blinked. "Uhhh… Sure…"

"Oh thank you!" The other boy shouted, lunging forward and hugging his legs. Now it was Sam's turn to put on a freaked out look. "If only I can do something for ya! Anything to show my gratitude!"

"Erm… You can start by letting me go!" The kitsune yelled, trying to free himself. Izzy released him, causing him to stumble backwards. Rod helped him up as Izzy stood.

"Now I guess we can go back to the surface and start our new life together." He said to Sadie.

"Meow, meow!" The cat mewed, nuzzling against him. The hedgehog chuckled and scratched her behind the ear. He started walking towards his gifts when he suddenly stopped, having realized something, and shook his fists in rage.

"Tell me something…" He growled, turning towards me with a dark look. "Did I honestly hit the fake panel or did you really have no intention of sending me back?"

I gulped at his detective skills. I can't believe he knew the whole time! "W-w-well… You see…"

"Hmph! I shoulda known." He picked Sadie off him and set her on the ground. She walked away from him, knowing full well how mad he was. He then raised his mallet in an attack position. "I can't believe you actually thought you could play me for a fool!" He stomped towards us again. "You were lying to me from the start! There's no rule that says you can banish me, is there!.?.!"

"Well…" I pulled at my shirt collar. "No, or rather not the way I told you. I _can_ banish you, but not to a prison for the rest of my life…"

"I knew it!" He roared.

The cave shook and rumbled as he continued advancing towards us. Small craters appeared in his wake. He raised his mallet above his head as he drew closer to us. Everyone resumed their earlier position of hiding behind me. Rod, being brave, stood with me, waiting for Izzy to make his move. He snickered evilly as he stood a good ten feet from us. His chilling laugh sent shivers down most of our spines.

"I-I won't stand for this!" I challenged. "You will _not_ attack us!"

"Please!" He scoffed. "Give me one good reason why I won't attack you!"

I shook and shudder for a moment or two before I blinked and smirked. "Actually, I can think of _four_ good reasons why you won't attack!"

"Wha?" He gave me a confused look.

"Meowth!" Sadie shouted.

"Cheep!" Tux and Edo chirped.

"C'mon brah! There's no reason to be mad at him!" Keoni called.

Izzy looked around himself and gulped. All four of his friends were surrounding him. Keoni and Tux were behind him while Sadie and Edo were in front. He stepped backwards in fright. Judging by the looks in their eyes, they all looked like they were going to…to…!

"Get 'em!" Keoni ordered.

In seconds, all four animals rushed him. A huge dust cloud appeared as sounds of fighting and screams (all from Izzy) were heard. We sweatdropped as we saw him try to escape, but was pulled right back in by two pairs of flippers, a pair of white arms, and a pair of purple ones. The struggle continued for a couple of minutes before the cloud disappeared, revealing a defeated Izzy. He had a dazed look on him as he lay on the ground, pinned down by everybody he loved. Tux and Edo were hugging his legs while Keoni and Sadie had his arms. They were fighting to nuzzle against his face.

"Whew…" The Ozone Street Regulars, Pikachu, and I sighed in relief.

"That was a close one…" Rod commented, wiping his sweaty head.

"Wow! That looks fun!" Iggy exclaimed, running towards the dog pile.

"Ugh…" Izzy groaned, picking up his head. "Ow…" He closed his eyes and gave a bashful smile as he sweatdropped. "Ya know what they say…"

"Bonsai!" His little brother yelled, jumping. He cannonballed right on Izzy's back in a spectacular crash. When the dust settled, the older hedgehog had two dizzy swirls for eyes.

"Love—Ugh!—hurts… Ohhhh…" He fainted right after saying those words. All of us laughed at the display for a few minutes before turning to each other.

"Wow! That went a lot better than I imagined!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, if almost being bashed is your idea of better…" Reggie commented sarcastically.

"Pika." Pikachu nodded from atop Sam.

"C'mon! Let's go already! I need to get to Mad Town before it closes!" Otto exclaimed, hurriedly making his way towards the elevator.

"Wait up for me, Ottoman!" Twister called after him.

"I'm outta here!" Sam shouted, running after them. "I don't wanna be here when he wakes up!"

"I hear ya Sammy." The bat said, following. She sighed and held her head. "I got a major headache from all this… The downside of being a bat… You get headaches much easier than humans do…"

I too started walking when I stopped and turned to the chipmunk, who was looking at the strange pile before him. "You coming, Rod?"

"But what about them?" He asked.

"Oh don't worry." I waved a dismissive hand. "He'll wake up in a couple of hours. By then, they'll be tired and ready to leave. C'mon. I'm taking the crew out for ice cream and root beer floats. That means you too."

The little furry turned to me with a grin and a thumbs-up. "As Iggy would say, coolies!"

The camera faded to black as we all made our way into the elevator for our ride back to the surface.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Whew! Talk about funny _and_ cute! And I'm not just talking about the mid and post-chapter conversations. ;-) Anyway, we're finally at the end of the team battles (for now) and we can move on to more adventure in a _different_ setting, AT LONG FREAKIN' LAST!.!.! So for those who are bored of the forest setting we've been in for the last few months, never fear! You won't be seeing any more forests or woods for the rest of the fic! (Or at least there won't be any elaborate scenes taking place in forests…I hope…)

Now then, as we saw before Izzy was reunited with his meowth, Team Rocket lucked out and pulled a win out from under Team Lars. What difficult obstacle will our heroes face next? Find out next time!

Time for reviewer responses!

To outtie2009: Heh, heh… Yeah, that last chapter was pretty lengthy. Making long chapters is a kinda weakness of mine… But I'm glad ya like the chapter! And I hope to see more of your slash fic soon!

To Mike2000: Eeeeeee!.!.! Thank you so much! Thanks to you, your son, and your wife, I finally broke fifty reviews! I'm so ecstatic! I can't thank you guys enough for your feedback! I truly appreciate it!

Thanks for the compliment about the cast being in-character. To be honest, I thought for sure that Pi would actually be considered _out_ of character because of his increased intellect due to becoming a robot. And I would've been cool with it even if he _was_ considered OOC, but eh, if he's really in-character, then I'm happy 'cause I don't have to worry about it! XD

And whew… I'm glad I was able to portray Rod well. I guess I was trying to picture a more athletic Iggy when I wrote his parts. Good to know it worked out well! XD

And—°Snickers°—although I wasn't able to have Reggie and Otto battle in this chapter, I'll be considering having them go at it in a future chapter. °Winks° Talk about your sibling rivalries, huh!.?

Thanks again for everything! °Claps° Hope ya enjoyed the chapter!

And last but not least, to Warior: °Whistles° It looks like your action-filled tale is reaching its thrilling conclusion! …Man, I hope I'm wrong! It's exciting and entertaining to read! Can't wait to see the next installment!

Hmmm… I guess that's about it. So I'll see ya next time, folks! I wonder if Izzy will really leave Sammy alone… PFFT!.!.! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!


	25. The Scariest Place on Earth, Part 1, 1

Pre-chapter Conversation

The earth, peaceful and blue, rotated ever so serenely in the inky black darkness of space. Its only company was the moon and stars that floated around it, making things seem less lonely for the planet many called home. In fact, the whole solar system can be compared to a giant school dance. The stars were the numerous extras in a cheesy teen romance movie while the earth and moon were the main attraction, two star crossed lovers that met halfway across the cosmic dance floor. They all danced around the disco ball known as the sun.

…Weird, isn't it?

Anyway, the blue planet and natural satellite were about to get some rude party crashers.

About a thousand miles away from Earth, a large explosion rocked the nearby stars as a giant wormhole appeared. The inside of the massive portal was flashing in multiple colors and hues. Lightning was crackling all around the opening. Soon, dozens and dozens of vessels could be seen exiting the wormhole. They ranged in size from small, fighter plane-like cruisers to titanic carrier ships. The flagship was about three times as huge as the biggest carrier. The giant metal birds were a dull, industrious brown with green thrown in some places. The gun turrets on the carriers and flagship made them all look intimidating and quite formidable.

Inside the flagship's bridge, a huge hulking figure watched over its fleet. Most of the alien's features were hidden by the metallic suit it was wearing. At first glance, one could mistake it for a robot with a squid for a head. Its sickly green head was bald and covered in black spots of various sizes. There were also tentacles where its mouth should be, hence the previous sea animal based metaphor. It must've been a good ten or so feet tall, about twice as tall as an average human. Its metal hands had three fat, slab-like fingers. If it wasn't for the fact that you could see its neck go into the suit, it'd appear that the head was the whole being. Its red eyes glared at the planet that was pictured on the ship's view screen.

A clanging was heard as another alien approached the leader. It looked just like the previously mentioned alien except its head was a lighter green.

"War master," He began, pounding his chest as a form of salute. "We are within range of the earth's atmosphere."

The leader's eyes flickered towards the subordinate in annoyance. The slightly shorter alien stepped back in fear of the other.

"I can see that, you twit." The war master said in a throaty male voice. He stood from his seat, which was fashioned like a throne, and held his right hand to the planet displayed in front of him. He then made a fist with his fat fingers. "That Zallamee is a fool and a waste of life. He just had to drag all of us into this because he couldn't leave two pathetic earthers alone. If he wasn't my commanding officer, I'd crush him with my own two fists."

The subordinate remained silent. As a Glorft, he knew all too well what happens to those that back sass their superiors.

"Lieutenant, prepare our ground forces for invasion." The war master said, turning to the other Glorft, who stood at attention. He then delivered what appeared to be a smirk. "I will personally oversee the attack. I want to see the desperate look on Zallamee's face when we rescue him. If we do not return in three of their earth hours, use the…"

The camera zoomed up to his face as dramatic music played in the background.

"_Main cannon._"

The numerous aliens working on the bridge gasped in response to that order. They all looked at the war master like he was crazy. The lieutenant gulped and attempted to speak.

"S-s-sir… If we fire the main cannon, it'll destroy the planet…"

The war master glared at him.

"I am well aware of the main cannon's capabilities, Lieutenant! I designed it myself, after all. I doubt it will take long to deal with those earthers, thanks to Zallamee's report. We have what we need to defeat them. And if it takes longer than three earth hours to complete the mission, I don't deserve to be the war master of this fleet. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" The Lieutenant saluted before leaving to carry out his orders. The leader turned back to the view screen with a malicious chortle.

"They won't know what hit them."

Outside, two carriers and several cruisers broke off from the armada and took off towards the planet.

Meanwhile, on good ol' planet Earth…

It was a peaceful day in Ocean Shores and the adjacent Rocket Power fan village. Seagulls and various species of birds flew in the calm yellow sky. All the citizens went about their business without a care in the world. The many stores and services were bustling with their usual customers. Authors, some with their fan character(s), others without, were going into one of the many movie theaters to catch showings of the newest fics as well as updates to their favorites. Other, much younger, authors were just walking out of fic writing school, happy to be freed for the day. Judging by the huge grins on their faces, they couldn't wait to get home to play with the characters they created.

The peace wouldn't last long.

A huge, dark shadow loomed over the village, almost completely covering the sun. All activity grinded to a halt as the citizens looked up at the source of the shade. Most if not all of the people gasped in horror, shock, and confusion at the sight of the overwhelming danger flying overhead.

Elsewhere, a certain quartet was walking inside the No Worries studios. They were just minding their business and having fun. Yep, two hedgehogs and their baby penguins, the latter two of which were playing a little game. Not a single care in the world.

…What? What other quartet _would_ I be talking about?

"Hmph! How long do you think it'll be before the boss updates again?" Izzy asked, strolling with his arms behind his head.

"Hmmm…" Iggy held his chin as he looked up at the clear sky. "I'd say it'll be four months, two weeks, and three days after the last update before Daddy updates."

The older brother gave his sibling a strange look.

"That…was oddly specific of you…and kinda redundant…"

The younger furry turned to him with a wide grin on his face.

"Why thank you!"

Izzy sweatdropped and cringed at the bright and cheery look on his brother's face.

"Yah…"

"Cheep, cheep!" Chirped one of the penguin brothers. It sounded more like a giggle than an actual sentence, given the fact that clapping was heard as well.

"Hm?" Both boys turned and found a rather humorous sight.

Tux was walking around with his arms behind his head. An uncharacteristic scowl was on his face as he chirped in a deep sounding, cynical tone. Judging by his chirps, he was asking a question. To which he replied in a cheerful, slightly more hyper than usual tone. He then put on an exaggerated look of confusion before chirping deeply again. Edo was literally rolling on the floor laughing as his brother faced him with a huge, bright grin and shouted.

"…" Izzy gave his oldest a quizzical look. "What on earth…?"

"Awwww!.!.! Isn't that cute!.?.!" Iggy squealed, holding his hands together. "Lil Tuxie's imitating us!.!.!"

"Hmph! So I've noticed." The taller hedgehog crossed his arms with an unimpressed look.

"Cheep! Che chi cheep." The penguin squawked, imitating his "mother's" movements. Edo clapped at the scene.

Izzy noticed this and smirked at his son. "Heh, not bad. Think you can do _this_?"

The furry did a handstand, which Tux mimicked almost perfectly. Izzy then stood up and hopped like a bunny around Edo and Iggy. Tux tilted his head in confusion before chirping and hopping along behind his "mom." The hedgehog picked up the pace but the little bird was able to catch up easily. Soon, they were going so fast that Iggy and Edo's eyes couldn't keep up with their brothers. They became one big purple and black blur, causing their younger siblings to fall over in dizziness. Iggy and Edo managed to get back on their feet a few moments later just in time to see Izzy and Tux doing jump kicks in the air!

'_Wow! Tuxie ain't half bad!_' The elder hedgehog thought as he flipped and prepared for another jump. Tux was proving to be one agile penguin. He was actually able to stay in the air for a full five seconds before coming back to earth. '_I wonder how far he can go._'

"Hey, those karate lessons you and Tux took really paid off, huh?" Iggy said to Edo.

"Cheep, cheep!" Edo agreed with a nod. The young hedgehog smiled as he turned back to the "battle."

"Heh, I better make sure to thank Rod next time I see 'im! This is so fun!.!.!"

And so the game continued for another five or so minutes. Izzy made Tux do all sorts of silly things in an attempt to mess him up. Making funny faces while belly sliding, performing scenes from a couple of Shakespeare plays while occasionally sticking their tongues out at the audience, and of course, juggling fish while singing Mary had a Little Lamb. Needless to say, that last one was the penguin's toughest challenge yet. The sight of all that fish flying before his eyes and in and out of his flippers was enough to drive _any_ penguin insane! He was practically drooling as he sang! When they finished juggling, both players were out of breath. They both sat down on the concrete with their backs to each other. While Izzy was panting, Tux was chowing down on some of the fish from the last challenge. Satisfied that the impromptu "fight" was over, Iggy and Edo made their way to the tired duo.

"That was pretty fun, Tuxie…" Izzy breathed to his companion. "We gotta do it again sometime, ok?"

"Mmmph! Cheeph!.!" Tux replied, turning to his "mom" with a full mouth. The hedgehog chuckled and put an arm around the bird who went back to eating.

"Wow! That was some match you guys!" Iggy commented. "Next time all four of us gotta play! Right Eddy?"

"…" Edo didn't say anything. He was too busy enjoying what was left of the fish. The two purple brothers simply laughed at this display of cuteness.

"Ugh…" Izzy grunted as he stood up and stretched. He then picked up the babies, who amazingly disposed of the fish in record time, and faced Iggy. "C'mon, it's burning out here, let's get—"

°BOOM!.!.!°

Everybody jumped and turned towards the fan village. Multiple explosions were going off all over the place! Great billows of smoke rose into the air as hundreds of screams were heard. The quartet put on looks of fear and confusion. Tux and Edo trembled and sunk as far into Izzy as possible. The furry looked down at the penguins before facing the carnage.

"What in the world is going on!.?" He shouted over the noise.

"I dunno! But we better get outta here and find Daddy!" Iggy replied.

"Oh _please_!.!" Izzy snapped. "What can _he_ do that _we_ can't!.? And by 'we,' I mean me!.!"

"…Whatever." The younger sibling rolled his eyes. "All I'm saying is if anybody knows what happened, it's Daddy. Who knows what caused those explosions!.?"

"…" The elder one looked away and made a disgruntled noise. "Good point… What _did_ cause those explosions? Think we should go check it out?"

"WHAT!.?.! Are you nuts!.?" Iggy paled at the very suggestion. "We can't go over there! What if something really creepy and dangerous is over there!.?.!"

"Hmph! What a baby."

"Hey!"

"Well it's the truth." Izzy smirked. Iggy growled at that one.

"Look, would you really wanna put Tux and Edo in danger!.?"

All the color drained from Izzy's face as he looked down. The terrified chicks were staring right back at him with looks that bordered on appalled and disbelief. He sweatdropped and chuckled nervously as he turned back to Iggy, who was smirking at him while crossing his arms. He sighed disdainfully.

"Alright, alright. We'll hide out in the studio til the heat blows off."

"That's better." Iggy said with satisfaction.

The hedgehog brothers started walking towards the commissary when…

"_Hold it right there, earthers!.!.!_" A deep voice roared. Izzy and Iggy paled as a sinister shadow loomed over them. They turned and felt their eyes go wide. Tux and Edo trembled even more if that was possible.

"…Aw crap…" The "mother" groaned.

Meanwhile…

(Crowd of readers: Get to the freakin' chapter already!.!.!

Me: Don't worry, it's coming! Just give me a few more minutes!.!.!

Crowd: Hurry it up!.!.!)

Inside the Rocket Power temple, I was standing in the middle of the great hall, looking in amazement at the thrones located underneath the statues of Otto, Twister, Sam, and Reggie. A piece of paper was in my left hand. I read over the words again just to make sure I wasn't dreaming and grinned. I took a couple of steps towards the thrones.

"Woah… It's beautiful… And oh so shiny…" I said, trying to control my drooling.

Among the original three thrones for most words, most chapters, and most reviews in a fic was an entirely new one. This fourth throne was made out of platinum and was positioned about half a foot between the silver and gold chairs. It, like the other three thrones, shone in the sunlight coming in from the windows, making the cavernous hall glow with a gray, silverish light. A toothy grin appeared on my face as I ran towards the throne.

"The throne for the longest-lasting, never-interrupted, and most action-filled story, and it's mine, all mine!.!.!" I excitedly shouted. A few seconds later, I blinked, skidded to a stop and turned to the camera. "Of course, I mean it's mine for the moment, not for good. Heh, heh, heh…" I rubbed the back of my head and closed the distance between me and the thrones.

"It's so awesome… I can't believe they actually did something like this…" I continued my fawning as I began to ascend the stairs. "Now let's see what this bad boy can—"

°KA-BOOOOOOOOM!.!.!°

As soon as that sound was heard echoing around the temple, the whole chamber began shaking! I clenched my teeth and struggled to keep my balance. My arms flailed around as I fought my hardest to remain standing. Augh! I was quickly losing my footing!

"Woa...WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHHHH!.!.!"

I finally lost it… I feel backwards… My body bounced on every step on the way down. The pain was so horrible that it felt like an eternity before I finally landed face down on the polished marble floor.

"Ouch…" I moaned as the rumbling ceased. I slowly stumbled back on my feet and looked around in confusion.

"W-w-was that an explosion?.?.?"

My question was answered as another blast was heard. This one was much closer than the last one. The intense rumbling of the temple told me that another one might cause some serious damage to the interior. I clenched my teeth and made a run for the door. I didn't want to risk getting trapped in there or worse… But still, what on earth caused those explosions!.?

"Whew! Made it…" I said as I reached the door. "I better find Izzy, Iggy, and the babies. I just hope they're alright…"

I grabbed one of the handles with both hands and pulled the massive door open.

I quickly wished I didn't.

I gasped in horror when saw the village in ruin. Several buildings were on fire and people were running for their lives. The sky above was bathed in a fierce orange. Strange considering sunset wasn't for another few hours… Confusion and fear came over me as I saw the cause of all the explosions. The alien spaceships were truthfully quite the sight to behold…if they weren't blowing up the place that is… I sighed with relief after I took everything in.

"Heh, at least now I know Izzy's not the one behind _this_ little bit of chaos… But what's with all the aliens? I thought the Rocket Power dimension was one of complete and absolute reality. Things like an invasion from space shouldn't be happening…"

I held my chin at this question and tried to think up a logical answer. But nothing was coming up. Eventually, I simply shrugged and started towards the edge of the mountain, where the path to go down was. I was almost at the beginning of the path when I heard something approach me from behind. By the sound of it, there were two things. Both of them were heavy, way too heavy to be humans. I also heard clanging, as if they were robots or something similar. I stood still and grabbed my mallet as the clanging grew louder. Sweat dribbled down the side of my face as I allowed whatever was causing that clanging to catch up to me. I gulped and began to tremble a bit as I wondered what was coming towards me.

Soon, the clanging stopped and heavy breathing was heard mere inches away from me. Finally having enough of this tense moment, I turned and faced my pursuers.

That was the second thing I regretted doing that day.

Standing before me were what appeared to be two members of the Glorft species. I dropped my guard for nearly a second before I again picked up my hammer in a defensive stance. Unlike the Glorft I knew to be my unwilling servants, _these_ Glorft were wearing a greenish, almost camouflage-like armor. Zallamee's troops wore red armor. I studied their angry expressions for a moment before I snickered.

"So, the rest of the Glorft finally arrived to pick up their comrades?"

The aliens blinked and turned to each other. The one on the left faced me.

"How'd you—?"

"Pffft!" I scoffed. "It's all Zallamee's been going on about for the last couple of months. I finally got tired of shocking him, so I let him and his goons yak on and on. Ya wouldn't believe how long it takes that windbag to shaddap!"

The two Glorft growled at me for that one. I blinked, realized what I said, and slapped my head.

"Ugh… That's the third thing I'm regretting today… I'm _really_ on a roll…"

The aliens had enough and pulled out a couple of staffs. This wouldn't have been too threatening had the ends not sparked to life and crackled with a lethal blue energy. I got back into my defensive pose and pulled out a battle chip from the pouch hanging from my waist.

"Don't try to fight us, earther!" The one on the left shouted.

"Yeah! Resistance is futile!" The right one added. I merely rolled my eyes at that one.

"Boy, where have I heard _that_ one before?" I then glared at them as I prepared to insert the chip. "You bums don't scare me one bit! Spreader battle chip in! Download!"

As soon as the chip entered my mallet, it glowed a bright white before turning into a gun of sorts. There were multiple holes in the front while the rest of it looked more like a super soaker than an actual gun. I smirked evilly as I prepared to fire. Strangely, the two aliens made no effort to defend themselves. I paid no mind as I let loose my attack! A short burst of light came from the gun then quickly disappeared. Seconds later, an explosion was seen hitting the Glorft on the left. Other, smaller, explosions went off all around him, engulfing his partner as well! They were heard screaming and moaning in pain. I grinned in triumph, having bested the extraterrestrials.

That is, until I heard their laughter filling the air.

"What the…?.?.?" I blanched in fright.

The smoke from my attack faded, revealing the aliens standing there without so much as a scratch on them!.! They were surrounded by a yellowish barrier. The energy flowed around them for a few brief moments before fading. I glowered at them while trying to keep my cool, but it was getting exceedingly difficult.

"How can this be? I didn't know the Glorft were so cheap as to resort to shields."

"Hmph! What do _you_ know of our proud race, earther?" The alien on the right grunted.

"Heh, I know they're all brutes." I smirked at their reactions. "Though I had no clue they were smart enough to make some pitiful shield."

"Pitiful?.? You're one to talk!" The left alien retorted. "These shields are strong enough to block any and all of your pathetic attacks."

I paled at that comment, but I made no effort to run. I had to learn more about their barriers.

"Hmph! You may have stopped some weak attack from getting through, but how do you intend to block my more powerful moves?" I challenged.

"Our barriers can block seismic energy, which is what your so-called weapons run on!" The right alien gloated. "Anything you try will be negated before it can so much as harm us."

"Seismic energy?" I blinked and looked at my hammer. "Ugh, of course! It's so obvious!"

I reached down and grabbed a couple of chips with my free hand to make my escape. I just had to learn one more thing though.

"So I suppose you'll be taking me away then?"

"You suppose correctly, earther." The left Glorft said smugly. "I don't know why the war master won't let us destroy you right now, but we'll have our chance soon enough after we take you to your studio."

"The studio?"

"Ugh! You ask too many questions!.!.!" The right one groaned, grabbing his head.

I smirked as I prepared myself. "Let's just say we're an inquisitive species."

"In any case, that's where your friends are being held captive. Now let's go!" The left one ordered as he and his companion advanced with their staffs.

"Thanks." I said, raising the chips above my head. "Now I know where I need to go, suckers!"

"Why you—!.!.!"

The Glorft made to knock me out, but I jumped away, nearly avoiding them. I may not be as agile as Izzy and Iggy currently are, but I made up for it in brainpower. The right alien moved in for another strike when I jumped right at him, holding my hammer above me with both hands. When I was close enough, I swung my hammer down. As expected, his shield activated, causing me to bounce right off of him. I was sent flying back towards the temple entrance. I made to land, but since I didn't have the same physical makeup as the two hedgehogs, well…

°CRASH!.!.!°

"Owwww… That wasn't one of my best landings… Ugh…" I groaned, trying to get up.

"You won't escape earther!"

"Wa-oh!" I gulped as I grabbed the two chips I pulled out earlier. The Glorft were practically on top of me as I made to get outta there. "Mini-Boomer and Drill Arm battle chips in! Double download!"

The end of the mallet opened, dropping what looked like a blue ball with green stripes on it into my hand. As my weapon began to change shape, I held the bomb above my head and tossed it at the aliens. It exploded, blinding them and giving me enough time to get away. My mallet had turned into a large drill with bike-like handlebars, so I hung on tight and drilled right into the side of the mountain, disappearing from view.

As I finally left the area, the smoke cleared, allowing the aliens to see that I had fled the scene. The extremely loud roar of the drill could still be heard, though it was quickly getting faint. They took one look at the hole I had made and groaned.

"The war master is going to have our hides for this…" The first alien spoke.

"Curse that earther!" The second one cursed. "We better go report this…"

Elsewhere, deep underground…

"Pfffft!.!.! Ack! These rocks keep getting in my eyes!" I shouted over the noise of the drill. With my eyes still closed, I turned to the camera. "Well, as you know, aliens have invaded our fair planet, apparently as an act of revenge against Izzy, Iggy, and me!.!.! Ugh!" I spat out a bunch of pebbles. "While I try to figure out how to rescue my characters, let's move on to the chapter!

"For this update—pfft!.!—we're covering Team Lars as they explore the dangerous and ghost-filled realm known as Hang Castle! Where will this stage (and the next one) take place!.? Can they make up for their loss against Team Rocket and make it through the night alive!.?.! Read on to find out!.!.! Gaaaaaggg!.!.! That one got in my throat! Owwww!.!.!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rocket Heroes 

Chapter Thirteen 

The Scariest Place on Earth 

Part One-One

"_...In other news today, after a tense couple of days of looking for any trace of the twelve heroes that are presumably fighting the nefarious Dr. Coconutman, we finally found some downed trees, upturned earth, burnt patches of forest, and startled animals down in the Florida Everglades. It is presumed that these are traces of more of the brave kids' journeying. This hypothesis was made by local officials when they found the swamp's main pathways littered with dozens upon dozens of robot parts. _

"_Among the debris, forest rangers found the swamp's main attraction, a giant alligator named Vicious Joe, trying to—erm…'gum down a dozen crawdads like it was going out of style…' as officials commented. Well, I guess they'll have to rename their main attraction Gummy Joe! Heh, heh, heh…_"

The news reporter blinked at the camera for a few seconds before glaring at it.

"_Hey! **I** didn't make this crap up! That's what it says on the paper!_" She shouted before clearing her throat. "_It's assumed that one of the four teams somehow ripped out the gator's teeth, but any and all investigations proved worthless, especially because the poor thing couldn't talk to the forest rangers that examined him. The world's best veterinarians are looking into making Gummy—err—**Vicious** Joe a set of dentures… Wha?.?.?_" She read over the script again and looked off-screen.

"_How the hell do you make dentures THAT big!.?.!_" She looked at the camera again and put on a bashful look before clearing her throat. "_In any case, we have our technicians looking into inventing a way to keep track of the teams. We'll keep you informed as more details come in._"

The anchor shuffled through her papers, looking for the next story to cover. She was about to speak again when she was handed a piece of paper. She read over it for a few moments before her eyes widened and she gasped in horror.

"_This just in! At the world famous Walt Disney World, ghosts have rampaged the theme park!_ _The specters scared the millions of park visitors out with their horrible antics and utter disregard for the safety of their victims! And to make matters worse, they completely transformed Cinderella's castle—At least I **think** that's her castle…—into something out of a 1920's horror movie! Oh it's horrible! I was gonna take my kids down there this summer too! I already paid for the plane tickets and the deposit on our beach house! WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!.!.!_"

She sniffled and looked up at the camera, struggling to recompose herself.

"_Anyway… This is Liz Cortez, reporting for CNN—_"

°Click!°

"Hmph! Poor people… They ain't gonna get their money back…" A man grunted, turning away from the TV, which was just changed to a baseball game.

The camera panned around a dimly lit diner. The partially open blinds revealed that it was dusk outside. Low country music played from the jukebox in the corner. It was serene scene (Hey! I made a rhyme! And did some sweet alliteration! XD). …Well, it was serene if you didn't count the various sounds coming from the many truck drivers in the restaurant…and I don't mean just from eating either…

In one of the booths, Team Lars sat, licking their wounds and grumbling about their latest loss. Or at least Lars was. Despite being flattened by the robot of the group, he actually didn't have much damage. He just had a bandage wrapped around his forehead and a band-aid on his left cheek. Pi was merely trying to conserve his energy while his diagnostic systems repaired his body from the inside out.

Reggie wasn't even paying attention to the hateful scowling and muttering her leader was making or even the slightly annoying whirring sounds coming from her metallic teammate. She was too busy thinking about Sam, wondering where he was, what he was doing, and if he was taking care of himself and his team. Although she highly doubted it due to the fact that he was traveling with her brother and Twister, two animals that didn't care one bit about safety, theirs or anybody around them. She sighed wistfully. She desperately wanted to spend more time with the kitsune of her dreams. Especially after what happened in the Everglades…

"Hey! Have you been listening to me!.?" The hedgehog she had the misfortune of adventuring with broke into her thoughts.

"Wha?.?.?" The bat said, startled by the sudden intrusion. Lars made a grunt of disgust before chomping into his hamburger. He washed it down with a sip of soda before glowering at her.

"I said we gotta get back at those Rocket dorks for doing what they did to us!" He shouted, banging the table. He nearly spilled his and Reggie's drinks on their respective meals. "I can't believe they just beat me and Pi like nothing! They didn't even move! I was so close to getting their emeralds!" He glared at Reggie, who was eating her seafood salad without even batting an eye of concern for her leader's ranting.

"And where were _you_ while all this was happening!.?.!" He demanded. "You completely disappeared after we all separated! And then after an hour of looking, you so conveniently show up, telling us ya found the way out of the woods!.!.! Without even telling us what you were doing the whole time!"

Reggie slurped her drink and wiped her mouth with a napkin before finally giving an extremely red and angry Lars the attention he wanted. She smirked at him mischievously.

"Well, like you said, I was looking for the way out. That's all. I already took care of Sam and I figured you had those other twerps dealt with too." She lied with a shrug. She then winked. "Don't tell me you honestly lost against _those_ two. I thought you and Pi were better than that."

She resisted the strong urge to grin as Lars flat out lost it.

"You're lucky I still need you on this team!.!.!" He roared, standing straight up. "Otherwise, I woulda kicked ya to the curb long—"

He was interrupted by a sudden glow emanating from his Chaos Emeralds. He pulled them out and studied them. An evil smirk appeared on his face when he realized what it meant.

"Alright! Another emerald is nearby!" He told his teammates as he leapt out of the booth. "Let's go!"

"_Affirmative._" Pi complied, following the hedgehog.

"Ugh… I can't believe we're going to go emerald hunting after not only a fight, but after we just ate…" The bat groaned, getting to her feet.

"Hmph!" Lars grunted, crossing his arms. "One little screw up ain't gonna stop me from getting all the emeralds. Now let's move!"

"Not so fast!" A voice shouted, stopping them in their tracks. The trio turned to face the chef. He was a huge hog. His apron and uniform were covered in grease, mold, and other remnants of food. His chef's hat was slightly torn due to the size of his immense head. He fixed the crew with a sharp glare. "You're forgetting your bill. Ya better pay if ya don't wanna have trouble with ol' Betsy here."

With that, he pulled out a large cleaver! It was at least half as big as Pi! Reggie gulped and scrambled to pull out some money. Lars, meanwhile, smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

"Heh, heh… Well, I _could_ use a little exercise…" He said, charging towards the chef.

"Why you—!" The pig roared, raising the oversized kitchen utensil. "Take this!"

It was over in less than a minute. The chef swung first, bringing his huge blade down. Using the lightning speed granted by his air skates, Lars dodged the attack easily. The cleaver crashed into the floor, sending shockwaves that brought everyone else to the ground. The hedgehog was the only exception. He managed to jump before he can be affected by the attack's side effect. Before the pig can get his weapon ready again, Lars spun into a ball and rammed into him! The chef was sent flying back into the kitchen with a crash! The leader unrolled and landed flat on his feet with a snicker.

"Hmph. And your burger was lousy too!" He shouted, leaving the restaurant. Glaring after him, Reggie got up and left, followed by Pi.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Later, after speeding all over the Sunshine State, the trio was skating/hovering along a strangely empty highway. Not a single car, truck, or bus was to be seen. An eerie feeling was in the air as they traveled towards their next destination. This feeling was further increased by the chill that was extremely odd, not to mention impossible, for this area of the world and the fact that the moon was covered by dark clouds.

This didn't matter to the group though, for they had other things to worry about. The flying member of the trio seemed to be having another one of her usual fits. And as usual, Lars had to entertain her while Pi merely watched. Like always, if the bot was capable of emotion, he'd have a pained expression on his soulless face.

"I can't believe you did that!.!.!" The bat scolded. "We had plenty of cash on hand after that little trip in Las Vegas! Ya didn't have to beat up that guy!"

"Man, don't you _ever_ shut up?" Lars muttered to himself. He then looked back at his current annoyance, who was now flying, having gotten tired of skating. "Give me a break! He was asking for it!"

"You're so childish!" Reggie shouted, crossing her arms and looking away as she flew. "You just wanted to fight him so you can feel better about getting whomped by Otto and Twist!"

"Listen you little pest!" The hedgehog countered, now skating backwards. "I've told you a million times ever since we started this thing! I can do whatever I want while we're out here! And no one, especially _you_, is gonna tell me different! Got it!.?"

The bat looked ahead and smirked.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah!" Lars bellowed.

Reggie's smirk turned sinister as she prepared to speak.

"So if told you to look out for the toll booth ahead, you wouldn't turn around and stop?"

"Hell no!.!.!" The hedgehog roared. "Lars Rodriguez doesn't follow directions from _anyone_!"

The other furry shrugged nonchalantly. "Ok, if you say so…" She said with a sigh as she stopped.

Lars scratched his head while fixing her with a quizzical look. "Huh?"

"_Danger!_" Pi alerted, trying to stop himself. Lars turned his body around and gasped when he saw himself heading towards a toll booth!.!.! It was far too late and he was going too fast to stop himself!.!.!

"AHHHHHHHHHHH—"

°WHAM!.!.!°

Reggie cringed as the hedgehog crashed face first into the booth. Lars removed his arm from the tiny building, grabbed his quills, and pulled his head, freeing himself from it.

"Ugh… Well, at least that was all that happened."

°CRASH!.!.!°

Pi collided with him seconds later. The only female of the group was beside herself with laughter as the robot stomped away from the toll booth, allowing Lars to float to the ground, flat like a piece of paper. Pi then picked him up and snapped him as if he was a towel in a locker room. With a pop, he reinflated and landed face first on the ground. After getting up and getting his bearings back, he faced the bat, who was still roaring with laughter. He was about to let her have it when there was glow coming from his nonexistent pockets. He pulled out his emeralds and yelped when he noticed that their light was even more intense than before.

"We're here!" He told his subordinates.

"But where's here?" Reggie asked, landing besides the hedgehog and robot.

The black clouds high above moved, revealing a strangely blood red moon. The odd natural satellite illuminated the area in front of them. They turned and saw quite a frightening sight. The whole place looked like a giant, haunted castle. The bricks were a dull gray. Turrets and towers were everywhere. The trio saw many loops, ramps, jumps, and other matters of insane tests of speed. The entire area was fenced off by a brick wall. The large, wooden gate in front of them bore the silhouette of a mouse with huge ears.

"…It looks like a PG-13 version of Disney World!" Reggie shouted.

"Or R even!" Lars supplied. The bat slapped him upside the head. "Hey!"

"_Sensors indicate large amounts of paranormal energy inside the complex._" Pi explained.

"Huh?.?.?"

°SLAP!.!.!°

"Ow! What'd I do!.?.!" Lars protested, rubbing his already sore head.

"He means ghosts, lame-o!.!.!" Reggie shouted, retreating her hand again.

"Ohhhh…" The hedgehog turned to Pi. "What about the emerald? Is it in there too?"

"_Affirmative._" He nodded."_I also sense a huge energy signature equal to those emitted by the Chaos Emeralds._"

"Well, it's time to get going." Lars said, clenching a fist. He started walking towards the spooky castle. Pi followed close behind.

"_What!.?.!_ We're actually _going_ in there!.?" Reggie demanded. The leader turned to her with a weirded out expression.

"Yeeeeeessssss… That's where the Chaos Emerald is. Didn't ya hear him!.?.!" He pointed at his metallic counterpart. The bat glowered at him.

"I know that! …But—"

"But _what_?"

"Doesn't it feel like we're betraying our network to go into the theme park of our rival channel?"

The hedgehog blinked at that.

"Yeah… You're right! …As weird as it is for me to say that…"

"Hey!"

"Anyway, we can't go in there! We're not traitors!" Lars crossed his arms.

"Yeah!" Reggie added, doing the same.

"_Indeed._" Pi agreed, crossing his arms as well.

(Me: What the!.?.! What're you guys doing!.? You're supposed to start the stage!)

"Duh! We're not going into Disney territory!" Reggie protested. "Don't ya know what'll happen if that mouse catches us in there!.?"

Lars gulped at the thought while Pi merely said, "_Gulp._"

"That type of thing may fly with the Rugrats crew, but not us! We're better than that!"

"Yeah!" Lars supplied.

"_You go, girl._" Pi added. The furries sweatdropped and looked at him strangely. "_…What?_"

"Ugh…" They slapped their heads.

(Me: o.O …Ok… Anyway, newsflash: Disney isn't your rival…or at least not so much nowadays, I think… Cartoon Network is.)

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhh…" The trio nodded in understanding.

(Me: -.- Yah… And another thing, you _are_ aware that Nickelodeon practically doesn't give a damn about you guys anymore, right? As sad as it is for me to say that…)

The bat and hedgehog sighed while Pi said, "_Sigh…_"

"Yeah…"

"But they can always take us back, right?" Reggie asked.

(Me: °Shrugs° It's a slim chance, what with those other _crappier_ Nicktoons around and all… But one can always hope, right?)

"Yeah!.!.!" The group cheered.

(Me: Now get in there and complete that stage!)

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!" They all shouted their battle cries as they charged towards the gate. The ghastly doorway opened wide, allowing the trio entrance. Once they passed it, it slammed shut, trapping them inside. A weird bit of cackling can be heard as the screen fades to black.

**Stage Eleven: Hang Castle**

**Mission****: Get to the center of the creepy castle!**

The screen irised in on the team speeding down a spiral in the haunted park. When they reached the bottom, they were sent along a small straightaway before hitting a jump pad. The machine propelled the crew over a small gap to a platform containing the entrance to a building. After skating up a small incline, they skidded to a stop. Ahead were three coconut pawns. All three of them were carrying lances. They seemed to be guarding the entrance to the building.

"Ugh! More robots!" Lars grunted as the automatons charged towards them.

"Guess Merv's behind this place's transformation!" Reggie shouted, kicking one of the bots into the huge double doors ahead. It broke to pieces instantly. "Yah!" She jumped away from another one.

"_How could the doctor have done this?_" Pi questioned, pulling the robot away from the bat. He tore it in half as if it was a piece of paper.

"He must've made a deal with the ghosts around here somehow!" The hedgehog answered, grabbing the last coconut pawn and throwing it over the edge of the platform. The doors ahead swung open with a creak. He dusted his hands off as he rejoined the others. Reggie looked around the area.

"Man, this place gives me the creeps…" She commented.

Spires with strange ghostly faces on the roofs surrounded them. The sky was pitch black unlike before entering the castle. Then, it was just a dark bluish gray due to it only being a few moments after sunset. The only bit of color was the strange red clouds in the horizon. Scarlet flags flew in the eerie sky. On them was a single eye surround by an odd yellow pattern. The bat turned to the building to find two columns on either side of the double doors. Torches were burning atop them. Skulls were sculpted into them, only adding more to this scary situation. She shivered before facing her teammates.

"_Anomaly detected in surrounding gravity field._" Pi told the two animals. "_Area unstable._"

"Hmph! Like I care!" Lars crossed his arms as he walked forward. "There's an emerald in here and I'm not leaving until I get it! Let's go!"

Pi and Reggie nodded before following the hedgehog. Inside the building was a single room. It was a small courtyard full of the strangest plants ever seen. The grass on the ground was brown and dried up. The bushes were also brown, but they were sticking up in odd patterns. A single tree was growing near the eastern wall. Its leaves were a purplish blue. The trunk was the same color, only darker. And at the far end of the yard was a strange object. It was a single sphere floating inches above the ground. Runes and other unknown symbols decorated it. It was glowing with a bluish white light.

"Weird…" The bat said upon seeing the sphere. "Is it some kinda switch?"

"_Affirmative._" Pi nodded. "_Sensors confirm that it is a switch. Use unknown._"

"Heh, guess we'll just have to see what it does." Lars said with a smirk.

He took a step forward when…

"WOAH!.!.!" The hedgehog yelped, jumping back. Two ghosts just appeared right in front of him! They had no arms or legs so they were floating in midair. Their bodies were wrapped in a black cloak, though you could see the bluish (Heh, we're loving this word, aren't we? XD) cores. They also had Jack-o-lanterns for heads.

"Wooooooo… Leave this place at once…" The specters warned. "Leave or be trapped in our realm for all eternity…"

"What a baby…" Reggie sighed exasperatedly, looking at Lars, who had hid behind Pi. "How are ya scared of a couple of rejects from a haunted house!.?"

"Erm…" The hedgehog turned red in embarrassment.

"Ugh… Just take care of 'em and save what little dignity you have left…"

"Uhhh… Right."

Lars walked around from behind the robot and swung at the ghosts. They disappeared instantly in a puff of blue smoke. The sudden vanishing act caused the hedgehog to trip and land face first on the ground.

"Yoooooooou were waaaaaaaaarned…" The phantoms' voices hung in the air for a few moments. The trio was left to contemplate their words.

"Trapped in their realm for all eternity?" Reggie held her chin. "What does that mean?"

"Ugh… Stupid ghosts…" The leader's voice was muffled. He got back to his feet and dusted himself off. "C'mon. We wasted enough time already!"

He and Reggie continued towards the switch, but stopped when they noticed Pi moving towards a crack in the western wall.

"What're ya doing Pi!.?"

"_Item detected nearby._" was all he said before reaching back his fist and punching the wall. It crumbled, revealing an alcove that contained an orange power core. The robot grabbed it, allowing him to level up.

"Aw! _I'm_ supposed to level up first!.!.!" The hedgehog shouted, stomping the ground. Reggie sweatdropped.

"Am I the only normal one in this fic?" She asked, shaking her head.

(Me: Most likely yes.)

She fell over after hearing that response.

"Ok…" She said weirdly as she stood. She turned to Lars, who was starting to calm down. "Mind if we continue?"

"Yeah, fine." The leader replied with a nod.

The trio moved over to the switch and touched it. Seconds later, there was a blinding flash. A great rumbling sound was heard. For a brief moment, they felt like the entire castle was moving, but that couldn't be. An entire stage can't just move… Just as fast as it started, the rumbling ended. The light vanished too, returning everyone to the darkness they were once in. The trio looked around. It didn't seem like anything happened…

"What the!.? That thing was a dud!" Lars shouted.

"That's strange… I feel like something _did_ change… But I don't see anything different…" Reggie added.

"_Minus gravity detected._" Pi said.

"Minus?.?.?" The others gave him a strange look.

"That doesn't make any sense." The bat said. "In order for there to be minus gravity, we'd have to be falling. And we can't be falling because we're standing—" Her eyes widened in shock. "Oh crap…"

"What?" Lars asked. He blinked and allowed his own eyes to widen having realized what was going on. They both turned to the camera.

"**WE'RE UPSIDE DOWN!.!.!**"

The camera flipped vertically to show that they were indeed correct. Somehow, the whole world turned upside down! The ground was the sky and the sky was the ground! Everyone looked down—erm…up? Or Down? No wait! Definitely up! Uhhh…yeah… Anyway, they all fell.

"**_AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!.!.!_**" The organisms screamed. A recording of a screaming woman from a random horror movie came from Pi at top volume.

°CRASH!.!.!°

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Lars and Reggie groaned painfully. The trio was in a pile on the ledge they landed on. The hedgehog in particular was in the most pain having been on the bottom of the pile. Pi landed on him shortly after while Reggie, being on top, wasn't in too bad shape. Lars shakily looked up at the bat with a questionable look.

"W-w-why didn't ya just fly away…?"

To that, the bat blinked and rubbed the back of her head.

"Whoops! I guess I forgot to…" She replied sheepishly.

Lars sweatdropped and put on a look of annoyance while propping his head on his right hand. He drummed the fingers on his left hand while contemplating whether to hurt his companion now or later.

"I shoulda known… Now, could you **GET OFFA ME!.?.!**"

"_Affirmative._" Pi obeyed, standing up and making Reggie fall off him instantly.

"Ugh… You could've given me a warning…" She growled, rubbing her butt as the robot pulled the leader to his feet.

"Whatever." The hedgehog said, dusting himself off. "Let's go."

After getting their bearings in this mixed up realm, the trio move forward. They hopped up a couple of ledges and found themselves on a straightaway. Upside down Torches and flags floated above their heads. In front of them was a cage that was guarded by a new kind of robot. This bot looked like a coconut pawn, except it had no legs, was wearing a witch's hat, and had what appeared to be a magic wand in its hand. There was a hint ring nearby, so Reggie grabbed it and read the comic that appeared in her hands.

In the first panel, Team Lars, who was drawn with crayons, was on the left side of a battlefield, staring down three coconut pawns and the witch bot. In the second one, Reggie and Pi were drawn with happy faces while Lars, as a ball, bounced off one of the robots. That pawn had swirls for eyes and was in a dizzy-like pose. In the final one, the team was shown gaping while the witch bot raised its wand. A yellow line was drawn around it, signifying that it was casting some kind of spell. The coconut pawn that Lars had attacked was also glowing yellow. It was grinning as well. The bat put down the paper and turned to her teammates.

"According to the hint, that robot can heal any other bots in the immediate area!"

Lars smirked. "Heh, that may be a cheap trick, but it'll make things interesting."

"_Even me?_" Pi asked, facing Reggie. "_Repairs still haven't been completed yet._"

"…" She shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to try, I guess."

With that, the group charged towards the robot. But before they can reach it, there were three flashes of light. Once they disappeared, a trio of coconut pawns appeared. Like the first bunch they came across, these were carrying lances. Also in their hands were shields.

"Ha! Bring it, ya walking pieces of scrap!" The hedgehog shouted, throwing back a fist.

His hand collided with the closest pawn's shield, having no effect. Smirking, Lars tripped it with a sweep kick. The sudden shock caused the robot to drop its shield. It still had its lance though, and it swung, trying to hit its adversary. Naturally, he dodged it effortlessly and chopped its arm off with a quick downwards karate chop. By this point, the robot was crackling with electricity and threatening to blow up on its own. Lars was about to make the final strike when the coconut pawn suddenly glowed a gold-like yellow. Seconds later, it had a brand new arm where the original was!

"What the—!.?.!" He gasped in shock. Before he could do anything, the robot punched him away! He tumbled along the ground for only a second before springing back to his feet. He rubbed his fist against his lips and sneered. "So that's the way it's gonna be, huh?" He ran towards the bot again. "Let's go! Round Two!"

When he was close enough, he jumped and spun into a ball. He then sped towards all three pawns.

"Dark Twister!" He roared.

He spun around the trio and caught the air around them. He then spiraled upwards, allowing him to toss the robots in a massive tornado. He then rolled into the funnel and destroyed them with split second kicks, punches, and chops. When the attack finally ended, all that was left of the coconut pawns were fragments that were somehow still functioning.

"Jeeze, save some for us." Reggie commented, crossing her arms.

"Heh, ya gotta be quick, dork." Lars said coolly. The bat growled at him and raised a fist to attack.

"_Alert!_" Pi called.

"Huh?" The furries turned to him. They noticed him pointing towards the witch bot, which was getting ready to cast a spell on its comrades.

"Oh crap!" The flying member gasped.

"Stop 'im, Pi!" Lars ordered.

"_Understood!_"

The robot stormed towards the witch bot, which was raising its glowing wand. Before it could heal the coconut pawns, Pi stood in its line of vision, causing its spell to work on him instead of its intended target. In an instant, all of the damage the human-turned-robot sustained in his battle with Team Rocket was healed, and as a nice bonus, the ammo for his machine gun was restored. The witch, who was sweatdropping, backed up slowly as Pi readied his gun.

"_Thank you._" He said monotonously before blasting the opposing bot. As soon as it blew up, the cage fell, freeing the switch inside.

"It's about time we got through this part!" Lars shouted, flicking the switch. A trail of rings appeared. It led into an upside down tower straight ahead.

"No kidding." Reggie agreed, sighing. "And it was only the beginning of the stage too… I wonder if we're gonna have any more huge pit stops."

"_We must continue._" Pi said. The others nodded.

"Get behind me you guys!" The hedgehog ordered, getting ready to move. The rest of the team got behind him, allowing him to use his light speed dash to run along the golden trail.

When they entered the tower, they found another cage. This one contained a switch just like the first one that changed the horizon. They were immediately ambushed by two coconut pawns, which they easily dispatched. To Lars' extreme displeasure, a yellow power core popped out of one of the robots. Reggie grabbed it and felt her abilities increase a bit. The hedgehog stomped the ground in anger.

"Augh! How much longer before I get to level up!.?.!" He complained.

"Oh stop it, ya big baby!" Reggie scolded. "You'll get a stinkin' level up sooner or later! Now move!"

"Y-y-yes ma'am…" He shuddered, looking out from behind Pi. The bat rolled her eyes before moving to the switch, which was just released. She hit it, causing another bright flash and the odd noise of the castle moving.

Once the light vanished, the trio found themselves falling towards the tower's floor. Luckily for Lars and Pi, it was a short drop, so they were able to land on their feet with no problem.

"Guess this is gonna be how we'll get through." The bat said once she floated down. "We're going have to flip the castle every so often."

"Ugh… Whatever. As long as we get the emerald and get outta here as fast as possible, I don't care." Lars said, skating towards the nearby exit.

"_Wait for us._" Pi added, hovering after him. Rolling her eyes again, she followed.

To be continued…

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mid-chapter Conversation

Part One

The scene opened in No Worries Studios, which was overrun with tons of alien goons! Gorilla-like giants lumbered about carrying materials of some sort with only one hand. In their other hands, they were dragging hammers that easily dwarfed mine, Izzy's and Iggy's. Let's call them brutes. Also on the ground were more Glorft soldiers. They all looked vicious and hungry for carnage, namely the execution of the human and two hedgehogs responsible for their being here…

In addition to the already intimidating ground forces, other, nearly more terrifying, aliens inhabited the studio's rooftops. Large bird-like creatures surveyed the entire area from their perches. They were flightless, but the sniper beam rifles they were toting, plus the speed granted to them by their strong legs more than made up for it. They practically _teleported_ from building to building as they made their rounds. A laser shot was heard mere seconds later. It seemed that a fly got in one of the sentries' way. Now it was a black speck on one of the walls. These sharp eyed beasts were known as jackals.

And speaking of bugs, the other species of airborne extraterrestrial was a very large insect called a drone. They were at least three feet tall. Girls, you may want to hang on to your boyfriends for this one. These bugs were pretty much a horrible mix of wasps and moths; a truly lethal combination. Their bodies were a twisted green with black stripes. Also, green ooze would dribble out of their suction cup-like mouths every few seconds. It didn't seem dangerous; it wasn't acidic or anything. However, by the looks of it, they were marking their territory with the liquid. Numerous buildings were covered with the stuff!

All of this was being observed from a hill overlooking the invaded studio. Several figures were watching the aliens work and patrol the area. There must've been at least twelve of them. Well, fifteen if you count the Chao, Pikachu, and Meowth in their ranks. All four teams were there, trying to think of a way to defend their planet and take back the two towns. It seemed that not only the fan village was attacked, but Ocean Shores as well.

A certain yellow, two-tailed fox was looking over the ridge with a pair of binoculars. His eyes were heavily magnified due to not only said implements, but his own glasses as well. All you could see were two giant dots covering both lenses! If it wasn't for the fact that he had to blink, you'd never be able to tell those were his eyes.

"Well? What's the word, Squid?" Otto asked, breaking the tense silence. He was talking with all the other actors, trying to come up with a game plan.

"Not so good, Ottoman." The fox replied, still looking. "They've got the whole studio covered. We can't get in without attracting attention."

"Pika…" Added the yellow mouse perched on Sam's left shoulder.

"So what!.?" Lars grumbled, walking up. "We got all we need to get in there and whomp those dorks!"

"_Please!_" Reggie shouted, rolling her eyes. "Can you for once think things through!.? If we charge in there blindly, we'll get thoroughly whomped!"

"Besides, we're not going in there just to rescue those guys and their adorable penguins." Clio stepped up, squealing at that last part. Needless to say, the guys and Reggie cringed at the sugary sweetness of her voice. "We gotta get those aliens off our planet!"

"Yeah!.!.!" The other furries in the group cheered, punching the air.

"Still…" Sam said, returning his attention to the studio. "We have to figure out where they're being held." He was silent for a moment as he surveyed the area for the third time. "Now where are—Aha! Found them!"

"Where!.?" The red hedgehog exclaimed. Sam handed him the binoculars.

"There. By the water tower." He pointed towards the symbol of the studio as Otto looked through them.

The hedgehog blinked and adjusted the binoculars' focus. The first thing he saw was the top of the water tower. The smiley face pictured on its side did nothing to alleviate the seriousness of the situation. He looked downwards toward the ground and saw what Sam found. At the base of the tower was a large rectangular force field. It was a yellowish color just like the smaller seismic shields the Glorft and, presumably, the other aliens were sporting. At each corner was a metal post that stretched up at least twenty feet.

And contained within the barrier were none other than Izzy, Iggy, Tux, and Edo. The penguins and their uncle were sitting a leaning against the force field. Tux and Edo held on to Iggy, who put an arm around each of them to protect them. They were all dirty and looked miserable. Or perhaps bored was the right word to use. On the opposite side of their prison was a dangerously ticked off Izzy. He looked far worse than his children and brother did. He was covered in burns, scars, and various scratches. His face was a fiery red and geysers of steam were coming out of his ears. His teeth were clenched tightly as were his hands around his mallet.

The violet hedgehog was relentlessly pounding the wall in a blind rage. Despite his strongest efforts, however, the shield remained standing. He didn't give up though. He used nearly everything he had in his disposal. He ran straight at the barrier and jumped. He then rolled into a ball and spun right into it while holding out his hammer. No matter how fast or how many times the weapon hit, the wall stood strong. Growling, Izzy unrolled and landed on the ground. He then pulled out some of his most destructive battle chips. With a roar that easily made Tux and Edo shrink more into Iggy, the dark furry fired multiple cannons, stabbed and slashed with swords of differing sizes, power, and elements; struck at the barrier with fire, water, electricity, earth, and ice; and finally, resorted to bombs. But nothing worked. Even when he used a program advance to form a giant time bomb, the force field refused to so much as crack!

Blackened, but still just as livid as before, Izzy coughed out a cloud of smoke and hissed at the wall. An equally darkened Iggy babbled dazedly about overkill. Tux and Edo meanwhile were crying softly. Hearing this, Iggy shook his head and consoled the chicks.

"Don't worry, you guys, it'll all be ok." He said. He then blinked when he noticed the soot and small scratches all over them. He pulled out his hammer and a chip of his own. "I better heal us up. Grab on, you two."

With that, he placed the handle of his plastic mallet on the ground. Following his direction, the tearful chicks leaned over and each placed a flipper on the handle. Iggy raised his chip above his head.

"Recover one hundred twenty battle chip in. Download."

After inserting the chip, Iggy's mallet glowed pink. Shortly after, small sparkles spilled out of the top, landing on the babies and their uncle. Tux and Edo looked up and giggled as they tried to catch them with their free flippers. As the tiny stars began to disappear, the trio's wounds healed and the dirt on their bodies cleared up. Finally, the tears on their clothes patched themselves up. When the shower ended, they were fully healed. Despite the current situation, Tux and Edo just had to dance in celebration.

Meanwhile, Izzy was huffing and puffing as he grabbed his own recovery chip.

"Recover…three hundred…battle chip in… Download…"

After recovering his energy the same way Iggy and the babies did, the hedgehog stood straight up and grabbed one more chip.

"Folder Back battle chip in! Download!"

After putting the chip in, his mallet glowed brightly as the side of the head opened. Every chip Izzy used to try to break open the barrier came pouring out, ready to be used again. The hedgehog closed his eyes and breathed deeply as he put the chips back into his pouch. He reopened his eyes and gave his alien captors, who were sitting on a pair of thrones before the force field, a sharp glare. He then held his mallet to them as if it was a sword.

"I swear, if I ever get out of here, Zallamee, death will be the least of your concerns!.!"

"Pah! You'll never kill me, even if you _did_ get out of there!" The Glorft in gold armor gloated.

'_Yeah right…_' The war master thought, rolling his eyes. '_If he had the controls for your collar, you'd be dead on the spot._'

Izzy smirked as he readied his mallet for another round.

"Why don't you let me out of here so we can put that to the test?"

As expected, a round of laughter came from Zallamee and the numerous aliens guarding the two pairs of brothers. The furry didn't let it faze him as he went back to attacking the barrier.

Back on the ridge overlooking the studio…

"Hmph! That kid's a fighter, I'll give him that." Otto said, handing the binoculars back to Sam. Everyone looked at him as he paced around. They gave him a few minutes before someone decided to speak up.

"Err… So what's the plan, bro?" Twister asked.

"…" The red hedgehog sighed and gave the group a shrug. "There's nothing we can do. We gotta find the author. It's the only way we can stand a chance."

"Woah… That doesn't sound like Otto at all…" Reggie commented to herself.

"Are you crazy, Rocket-Dork!.?.!" Lars roared getting in his face. "We don't need 'im to deal with those aliens! Like I said before, we got all we need! Squid rewired that laser one of them dropped!"

"I may have reverse-engineered one of their lasers so that it'll disable their seismic shields," The fox started, pulling out a small handheld laser blaster. It easily resembled a light gun from one of those arcade shooting games or the Zapper from the NES era of video games. "But it hasn't been tested yet! I have no clue if it works or not!"

"Well now's the perfect time, brah!" Keoni made his voice heard. "We gotta get down there and free them before those aliens kill them!"

"Meow, meow!.!" Sadie agreed.

The rest of the group gave them a knowing look. Both cats sweatdropped at that and shrank back.

"Are you sure this doesn't have to do with a certain pile of pineapples and the fact that you really, really love your master…?" Clio asked.

"…" Keoni and Sadie blushed before looking away and saying "Nooooo…" (In Sadie's case, it was "Meeeoooooow…"). Everyone else rolled their eyes and went back to the task at hand.

"…Anyway, _that's_ why we can't go bursting in there! We'll be pounded!" Otto shouted to Lars, who promptly grabbed him by the scruff of his near nonexistent neck.

"Not as pounded as _you'll_ be if we don't get in there soon! Who knows how long it'll be before the author gets here!.?.!"

"Uhhh… Not long at all, apparently…" Sam said with a somewhat irritated voice. He was again looking through his binoculars.

"Huh?.?.?" The two leaders questioned. The fox merely pointed towards the studio again.

Everyone looked towards a couple of the buildings as a rumbling sound was heard. The patrolling aliens snapped their heads in the direction of the sound. As the sound grew louder, the guards readied their weapons. Their eyes narrowed dangerously as they took aim.

"Aw crap! He wouldn't!" Otto yelled with a gasp.

"Don't worry, bro! It's probably a mole or something." Twister reassured. Everyone else turned and gave him a weirded out look. Cheese and the pokémon looked about ready to slap him upside his head. "…_WHAT?.?.?_"

…In any case, the ground by one of the buildings exploded shortly after, sending rocks flying all over the place. The guards' seismic shields activated, preventing the broken concrete from hitting them. The aliens looked towards the dust cloud caused by the explosion and waited for something to come out. To the aliens' great fortune and the RP crew's displeasure, the dust settled revealing…

"Ugh! That's the last time I travel underground!" I shouted, coughing and gasping for air.

I was standing inside the waist deep hole, covered in dirt, worms, and various subterranean creatures. A family of moles was nestled in my _crown_ for crying out loud! I had to admit they were kinda cute though… Anyway, my hammer-turned-drill was behind me as I shook the pebbles off my head (after letting the moles climb off me, of course). It flashed white and turned back to normal as I hit my ears to get rid of more rocks. After shaking the dizziness from my head one last time, I blinked and looked around my surroundings.

"Hey! I'm in the studio!" I cheered as I started to climb out of the hole. "Now all I gotta do is find Izzy and Iggy and—"

"Stay right where you are, earther slime!" A voice roared at me. I looked in the direction of the sound and sweatdropped.

About a dozen aliens were surrounding me, getting ready to fire their weapons. The Glorft that called out to me was one that I recognized as one of Zallamee's goons. He even had the electric collar around his neck. It was apparent he really had it in for me, Izzy, and Iggy! I readied my own weapon and pulled out a couple of chips when I remembered the barriers they were equipped with. I wouldn't be able to make a dent on them! I sucked on my teeth and glowered as I put away the chips and tried to think of something.

"Just great! If I attack, those shields of theirs will just absorb whatever I throw at them. If only there was a way to—I dunno—blow them off or something…"

I blinked at that last statement.

"Blow them off…" My eyes widened as I let out a gasp.

"Open fire!.!.!" The Glorft that stopped me earlier ordered. I stepped backwards and grabbed a battle chip as the rest of the guards prepared to attack.

'_I only have one copy of **that** chip on me so I gotta put it to good use._' I thought as I raised the chip above my head. '_That means I gotta find Izzy, Iggy, Tux, and Edo while fighting through these…**things** without using my hammer for offense! I just hope it works when I **do** use it. If not…_'

I turned to the camera with a smirk.

"To quote child genius Dexter, 'I like them odds!'" I turned back to the aliens. "You'll never catch—"

I was cut off by laser fire coming from all directions! I panicked as I broke into an impromptu dance number.

"Woah, woah, woah!.!.!" I screamed as I raised my arms above my head. I gritted my teeth as I fought to insert my chip while moving my feet as fast as humanly possible. My feet were starting to get very, very hot as my arms drew closer to each other. The pain was becoming unbearable! …But I had to hang on for Izzy, Iggy, and the babies!.!.!

Just as the hand holding the battle chip and the one holding my hammer were within inches of each other, I heard what sounded like the cocking of a gun. Call it E.S.P, instinct, Spidey Sense, the Sixth Sense, whatever! All I know is that I heard a gun somewhere nearby. Almost as if it was…

I shot my head up and saw a jackal pointing its beam rifle at me!.!.!

"Oh _hell_ naw!.!.!" I roared, practically jamming the battle chip in the mallet. "Area Steal!.!.!"

As soon as I shouted those words, the bird-like beast fired at me. Thankfully, the chip kicked in at the right moment. Quickly picking a place far away from these guys, I teleported out of the area in a heartbeat.

…Unfortunately, "out of the area" meant a good twenty or so feet from my previous position. When I reappeared, I was right on top of one of those brutes!.!.!

"Get 'im!.!.!" The Glorft ordered, pointing at the huge gorilla. Everyone else turned to the target and aimed at his head. Confused, the giant grunted and pointed at himself questioningly. The squid-faced one slapped his head.

"No, not _you_! The earther on your head! Just stand still a moment." He turned to his subordinates. "Don't just stand there! Fire!.!.!"

With that, the aliens opened fired on me. Smirking, I grabbed another Area Steal chip from my pouch and disappeared before the laser bolts can hit. The monster screamed in agony as he tried to shield himself from his comrades' attack. Needless to say, the huge brute ignored all of his military training and retaliated, whaling on his own side with an animal-like rage! The other aliens fought back to get the brute under control. However, it seemed hopeless. It was like a Primeape (a monkey-like pokémon); once ya get it agitated, there's no calming it down. Also, the relationship between all four species of aliens was shaky if not completely nonexistent already. And that was _before_ the hedgehog brothers and I came into the picture.

I reappeared several yards from the new battle and watched the carnage with a look of extreme satisfaction. I almost felt bad for the red Glorft, who was trying to bring order to the situation and pointing at me like a total nutcase. _Almost._

"Ahhh…" I sighed, holding my left hand in the air. "I hate when things remain completely unsettled…"

I snapped my fingers, causing the still active electric collar around the Glorft's neck to activate, shocking the fool into submission. It was at that moment that something strange happened. As the twenty thousand volts of electricity zapped every inch of his body, his seismic shield was going crazy. It kept flickering on and off for a few moments before finally shattering into hundreds of pieces and vanishing for good. I raised an eyebrow as the charbroiled alien fainted.

"D-d-did the shield just…?"

"DESTROY THE EARTHER!.!.!"

My eyes went wide with fear as the aliens ended the brawl and came after me again!.!.! I turned and hightailed it towards the center of the studio.

"Hopefully, I'll find Izzy and Iggy sometime soon! Yeow!.!.!" I shouted to myself as I jumped to avoid a laser blast. "It'd be really nice if reinforcements come soon!.!.! Yikes!.!.!"

Back on the ridge, the RP gang watched with shocked expressions as I ran away from my pursuers, dodging laser fire all the while. They all faced each other with wide eyes, trying to find some way to assess the situation.

"D-d-did he just take on that whole squad of guards and _won_?.?.?" Lars questioned.

"_Technically, he didn't win._" Pi answered. "_He merely provided a diversion and ran away._"

"I know what I saw, ya dork!.!.! He went through those guys like they were nothing!.!.!"

"So? Of course he took care of them with no problem. He used his author powers, duh!.!.!" Reggie shouted. Clearly she was unimpressed by the show.

"I…don't think he was using his abilities as the author, Reggie." Sam spoke up timidly. The others faced him, causing him to blush at all the attention. "W-w-well, if he _did_ use them, why didn't he turn the aliens into something harmless instead of fighting them?"

"To take up a good thousand or so words?" Trent suggested with a shrug. Everybody thought over his answer for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do alright…" Mackenzie grunted.

"Uhhh guys, shouldn't we go help Mr. Author out before those bad aliens get him?.?.?" Little Scotty shouted. The others gave various responses of agreement.

"Ok let's go guys!" Otto began to the other furries. "It looks like the author gave us an important clue on how we can beat those kooks from space!"

"Huh?" Twister asked, scratching his head. "What clue?"

"Ah I get it, Rocket Boy!" Reggie said, punching her left palm. "We got the exactly what we need to whomp them!"

"An excellent suggestion, leader of the light." Eddie cackled, drawing his cape around himself. "It seems quite simple to bring them down now."

"Wha?.?.? How?.?.?" The clueless echidna tried again. However, he was ignored again.

"I saw it too! We have all we need to take them out now!" Sam cheered before giving a sigh. "If only I knew before I reverse engineered this thing…"

"Don't worry about it, brah! As long as we have what we need to save Izzy and the others, we'll be fine!" Keoni encouraged him. He then faced Sadie with a glower. "We may be rivals, but for now we gotta work together to save him. Truce?" He held a hand out to the Meowth by his side.

"Meow." Sadie nodded, holding out a paw. "Me, meow mew meowth."

"Oh you know it." Keoni replied, shaking her paw. "Once this is over, it's back to square one."

"Oh well…" The fox sighed again as he picked his Pikachu off his shoulders. "You'll help us, won't you buddy?"

"Pika!" The mouse nodded with a determined look. The two pokémon faced each other with strong glowers. It was clear that they knew exactly what to do. They both gave each other a nod, confirming their plan.

"WHY WON'T SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!.?.!" Twister screamed. Clearly, he was getting fed up with being left in the dark.

"Well come on you guys! We better hurry down there before that author gets axed!" Otto called, already getting a head start. He hopped off the side of the cliff and ran down the sharp ninety degree angle en route to the studio.

"Hey!.!.! Wait for us, Rocket Dork!.!.!" Lars yelled, using Chaos Control to beat him to the bottom.

Needless to say, a huge argument was heard echoing off the cliff face. The two leaders were clearly fighting over who got to the bottom first. Everyone else rolled their eyes at the hedgehogs' immaturity (well, except for Twister, who was _still_ trying to figure out what everybody was talking about!). They then made their way down the cliff. Soon, Twister was the only one left. He was in a thinking pose, trying to discern the whole conversation. After about two minutes he shrugged and finally made his way down.

"Man… Why does no one ever tell me anything?" He was heard grumbling.

To be continued…

(A/N: Hey there! Sorry for leaving you guys with not only a cliffhanger (literally!), but _two_ to be continueds!.!.! X.X!.!.! It was the only way I can get this update completed before I go on my big trip to Florida to attend my new school! Hopefully it won't take another four months, two weeks, and three days to get the next update up! Heh, for that matter, I hope I'll even be able to remember what's going on! XD Anyway, see ya next time! With any luck, I'll get as many reviews as I've been getting hits for this fic! °Crosses fingers°)


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